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CHILDREN'S  PERCEPTIONS 


!.' !  •. 


giburattnnal  ^agrt^ologa  i8iott0grttpl?g 
No.  12 

CHILDREN'S  PERCEPTIONS 

An  Experimental  Study  of  Observation  and  Report  in 
Scliool  Children 

By 

VV.  H.  WINCH,  M.  A.  (cantab) 

External  Member  of  the  Board  of  Psychological  Studies  of  the  University  of 

London;  Chairman  of  the  Committee  of  the   Teachers''  Guild  of  Great 

Britain  and  Ireland  on  Psychological  Research  in  Schools;  Lecturer 

for  the  London    County   Council  on   Pedagogical  Methods  in 

Schools;  Inspector  of  Schools  for  the  London  County  Council, 

now   on   leave   of  absence  for  purposes   of  Research 

in  Experimental  Pedagogy. 


WARWICK  k  YGRK.  J5c,>  : 


i&14 


DOS 


Copyright,  1914,  by 
Warwick  &  York,  Inc. 


EDITOR'S  PREFACE. 

Since  the  year  1900,  when  Binet  published  his  well 
known  volume  upon  suggestibility,  and  more  espe- 
cially since  the  labors  of  Professor  Stern,  of  Bres- 
lau,  during  the  next  few  years,  there  has  arisen 
among  psychologists  a  very  keen  interest  in  the  psy- 
chology of  testimony,  or  psychology  of  report,  to 
use  a  more  general  term.  The  report,  or  Aussage, 
as  the  Germans  term  it,  is  an  account,  either  oral  or 
written,  and  either  spontaneous  or  in  response  to 
questions,  in  which  a  person  seeks  to  describe  a 
scene  or  narrate  an  event  that  he  has  witnessed. 
The  report,  therefore,  clearly  implies  and  hinges 
upon  a  previous  observation.  Experiments  with  re- 
porting are  one  way  of  testing  the  capacity  of  school 
children  to  observe,  and  previous  experiments  with 
school  children  by  these  methods  have  invariably 
elicited  results  and  conclusions  of  pedagogical,  as 
well  as  psychological  value. 

In  the  present  monograph  Mr.  Winch  has,  hap- 
pily, used  not  only  the  general  methods  of  Professor 
Stern,  but  also  the  identical  picture  which  figured 
so  prominently  in  the  original  work  of  Stern  and 
other  German  investigators.  Moreover,  the  picture 
has  been  reproduced  and  inserted  in  the  volume,  so 
that  all  readers  may  compare  the  work  of  the  English 
children  with  the  actual  test-object,  and  may  use  the 


VI  EDITOR  S   PREFACE 

picture  and  the  method  for  repeating  this  very  in- 
teresting and  profitable  experiment  upon  themselves, 
their  pupils,  and  others.  In  the  text  of  the  book  will 
be  found  not  only  the  statistical  tables  necessary  for 
this  comparison,  but  also  actual  reports  of  children 
of  both  sexes  and  of  different  ages  and  school  grades. 
In  short,  the  work  is  designed  to  encourage  and  fa- 
cilitate the  actual  trial  of  the  experiment  by  the 
reader,  and  should  on  this  account  be  especially  wel- 
comed by  teachers  and  others  interested  in  experi- 
mental pedagogy. 

Finally,  Mr.  Winch's  results  have  an  immediate 
bearing  upon  the  vexed  problem  of  the  training  of 
observation  in  children.  They  serve  particularly 
to  clear  the  ground  for  the  consideration  of  this 
problem  by  showing  what  children  do,  and  what 
they  do  not  observe  at  different  stages  of  their  men- 
tal development.  It  is  evident  enough  that  we  need 
to  know  these  facts  before  we  can  proceed  intelli- 
gently to  formulate  a  system  of  exercises  for  train- 
ing observation. 

a.  M.  w. 


AUTHOR^S  PREFACE. 

This  volume  is  a  research  in  experimental  peda- 
gogy. 

In  England  and  in  other  countries,  those  whose 
efforts  are  creating  the  new  science  of  experimental 
pedagogy  are  inspired  by  a  profound  belief.  They 
preach  a  revolution  in  education.  But  what  kind  of 
revolution,  for  we  have  had  many  before?  Most 
thoughtful  teachers  indeed,  and  not  a  few  educa- 
tionists, have  become  a  little  tired  of  the  fashion- 
like changes  which,  from  time  to  time,  sweep  across 
the  educational  field;  and,  after  much  dislocation 
and  annoyance,  vanish  within  the  limbo  of  the  dis- 
credited and  the  forgotten.  The  believer  in  experi- 
mental pedagogy  preaches  another  kind  of  revolu- 
tion— a  revolution  in  the  method  of  determining  edu- 
cational needs  and  practices.  He  holds  that,  until 
an  educational  proposal  has  been  submitted  to  defin- 
ite tests  under  rigorously  scientific  conditions  in 
the  schools  themselves,  there  can  be  no  adequate 
ground  for  recommending  it  for  general  adoption. 
He  holds  also  that  the  teachers  should  have  a  share 
in  this  work  of  experimental  verification. 

There  is  an  increasing  number  of  teachers  who  are 
willing — ^nay,  anxious — to  carry  out  scientific  psy- 
chological and  pedagogical  experiments  in  schools, 

vii 


Vlll  AUTHOR  S   PEEFACE 

if  proper  guidance  be  given  them.  But  they  desire 
to  see  how  this  experimental  work  bears  on  their 
work ;  they  want  it  to  be  practical ;  and  surely  these 
requests  are  not  unreasonable. 

One  hopes  that,  in  education  as  in  other  arts,  there 
will  never  be  a  lack  of  persons  to  come  forward  with 
new  ideas.  The  believer  in  experimental  pedagogy 
will  accord,  both  to  them  and  to  their  ideas,  a  most 
hearty  welcome.  ^^But/'  he  will  say,  *^let  us  see 
how  your  proposals  work  through  the  teachers  in 
the  schools  before  we  accept  them."  Science  must 
become  the  handmaid  of  art  in  education  as  in  other 
professions.  To  talk  of  a  science  of  education  before 
this  experimental  verification  has  been  done  is  to  use 
inflated  language  which  has  little  reference  to  reality. 
But  for  educational  ideas  securely  based  on  actual 
knowledge,  gathered  under  school  conditions  with 
the  help  of  teachers,  there  has  never  been,  I  believe, 
throughout  the  whole  history  of  education,  so  favor- 
able an  opportunity  of  realization  as  at  present. 

W.  H.  WmcH. 

London,  February,  1913. 


CONTENTS 

Frontispiece. 

Editor's  Preface v 

Autlior's  Preface vii 

Chapter      I.    How,  if  at  all,  can  children  be  taught  to  observe?  1 

Chapter    II.    General  plan  of  the  experiments 8 

Chapter  III.     First  Series  of  Experiments.    School  A 10 

I.    The  work  of  the  three-year-old  children 13 

II.    The  work  of  the  four-year-old  children 51 

III.  The  work  of  the  five-year-old  children Gl 

IV.  The  work  of  the  six-year-old  children 69 

V.  The  work  of  the  seven-year-old  children 77 

Chapter  IV.     Second  Series  of  Experiments.     School  B 90 

I.  The  work  of  the  four-year-old  children 91 

II.  The  work  of  the  five-year-old  children 99 

III.  The  work  of  the  six-year-old  children 100 

IV.  The  work  of  the  seven-year-old  children 114 

Chapter  V.     Third  and  Fourth  Series  of  Experiments.    School 

C.    Boys  and  Girls 128 

I.     Method  of  Procedure  in  the  Senior  Schools 128 

II.  How  the  work  in  Boys'  and  Girls'  Schools  may 

be  compared 132 

III.  The  work  of  the  Standard     II  boys  and  girls..  133 

IV.  The  work  of  the  Standard   III  boys  and  girls..  142 
V.    The  work  of  the  Standard    IV  boys  and  girls..  149 

VI.  The  work  of  the  Standard      V  boys  and  girls..  156 
VII.    The  work  of  the  Standard    VI  boys  and  girls..  164 

VIII.  The  work  of  the  Standard  VII  boys  and  girls..  172 
IX.  The  work  of  boys  and  girls  compared  age  by  age .  184 
Chapter  VI.  The  Evolution  of  Children's  Perceptual   Judg- 
ments   188 

I.    Children's  Judgments  due  to  Suggestion 188 

II.    Children's  Perceptions  of  Clothes 194 

III.    Children's  Perceptions  of  Position 196 

iz 


X  CONTENTS 

IV.    Children's  Perceptions  of  Activities 200 

V.    Children's  Perceptions  of  Things 202 

VI.    Children's  Perceptions  of  Number 205 

VII.     Children's  Perceptions  of  Color 208 

VIII.    Validity  of  this  method  of  tracing  the  child's  per- 
ceptual evolution 212 

IX.    Pedagogical  value  of  the  method 213 

Chapter  VII.    Was  it  the  same  picture  which  was  shown  the 

second  time? 215 

Chapter  VIII.    How  far  is  the  relative  inferiority  of  the  older 
children  due  to  differences  in  the  method  of  reporting?. . .  223 
Fifth,  Sixth,  Seventh  and  Eighth  Series  of  Experiments. 

I.    The  work  of  School  D 226 

II.    The  work  of  School  E 228 

III.  The  work  of  School  F 230 

IV.  The  oral  work  of  the  girls  of  School  C 234 

Chapter  IX.     Summary  and  Conclusions 238 

Chapter  X.     Statistical  Appendix 241 

Index 243 


> 


CHILDREN'S  PERCHPTIONS: 

An  Experimental  Study  of  Observation  and  Report 
in  School  Children. 

CHAPTER  I. 

HOW,  IF  AT  ALL,  CAN  CHILDREN  BE  TAUGHT  TO 
OBSERVE? 

It  is  quite  common,  at  the  present  day,  in  educa- 
tional codes  and  courses  of  study,  to  find  instructions 
to  teachers  to  encourage  observation  among  their  pu- 
pils ;  and  it  is  a  general  complaint  that  children  leave 
their  schools  without  much  knowledge  of  the  world 
which  lies  immediately  about  them  (which,  of  course, 
tthey  might  have  gained  by  observation),  and,  above 
all,  without  that  inquiring  glance  which  enables  them 
rapidly  to  make  themselves  at  home  in  a  new  envir- 
onment. Both  of  these  defects,  it  is  asserted,  are 
remediable  by  the  process  known  as  the  cultivation 
of  the  power  of  observation.  Briefly,  that  is  the  posi- 
tion today  of  the  educational  world  in  England, 
America  and  Germany ;  though  with  varieties  of  em- 
phasis, and  some  divergence  of  views. 

Side  by  side  with  this,  there  is  the  general  opinion 
of  the  psychological  world  that  observation,  inter- 
preted in  a  psychological  way,  is  very  little  sus- 
ceptible of  improvement,  if  at  all. 

It  is  pointed  out  that  the  specialist,  whilst  acutely 


5  y  H  ' 


OHIIiDEEN;  'S  ^  P^CEPTIONS 

alive  to  perceptual  changes  within  the  sphere  of  his 
own  studies,  is  often  so  unobservant  of  other  things 
that,  by  ordinary  mortals,  he  is  frequently  regarded 
as  stupid.*  And  it  is  argued  that  improved  discrimi- 
nation in  any  one  sensory  department,  say  that  of 
vision,  or  even  in  aspects  of  the  same  sense,  form, 
color,  etc.,  is  not  accompanied  by  improvement  in 
others,  even  within  the  same  sensory  field;  and,  a 
fortiori,  would  certainly  not  involve  improved  dis- 
crimination in  another  sensory  field,  for  example, 
in  that  of  sound.  Consequently,  the  all-round  train- 
ing of  the  ^faculty  of  observation' — a  phrase  be- 
loved by  educationists — must  be  an  absurd  ideal,  be- 
cause it  is  destined  never  to  be  realized;  it  simply 
can't  be  done.  The  psychologist,  too,  lays  stress  on 
the  inhibitory  aspects  of  mental  life — an  aspect  too 
often  lost  sight  of  by  educationists.  So  much  obser- 
vation of  plant  life,  shall  we  say,  means  less  and  not 
more  observation,  shall  we  say,  of  animal  life  or 
machinery.  Therefore  it  is  argued  that  we  should 
cease  to  try  to  cultivate  an  all-round  power  of  obser- 
vation;  let  us  rather  confine  ourselves  to  encourag- 
ing observation  within  those  fields  of  knowledge  and 
within  those  sensory  departments  in  which  the  obser- 
vations are  likely  to  be  industrially  or  aesthetically 
important  to  the  pupil. 

Where  such  diametric  conflict  of  opinion  exists,  it 
is  fairly  certain  that  the  parties  to  the  dispute  do 
not  mean  altogether  the  same  thing  by  the  terms 
they  use.  The  educationist  maintains  that  he  is  not 
thinking  simply  of  sensory  discrimination,  and  he  is 


♦Winch,  Problems  in  Education,    London,  1900;  page  32   et  teg. 


HOW  CAN  CHILDREN  BE  TAUGHT  TO  OBSEBVE  6 

apt  to  accuse  the  workers  of  the  laboratory  of  under- 
standing him  in  too  limited  a  sense,  and  of  arrang- 
ing their  experiments  in  so  artificial  a  way  that  the 
results  obtained  are  not  applicable  either  to  the  work 
of  the  school  or  to  the  work-a-day  world  outside  it. 

Fortunately  for  education  and,  I  think,  for  psy- 
chology also,  a  rapprochement  seems  likely  to  take 
place.  In  Germany,  a  good  deal  of  work  bearing 
on  these  issues  has  been  done  under  the  title  of 
* Aussage/  which  I  have  translated  into  English  as 
the  Declaration  of  Perceptual  Judgments;  and  in 
America  much  the  same  kind  of  experiment  has  been 
worked  at  and  described  as  ^Fidelity  of  Report.'  In 
England,  we  shall  probably,  in  the  educational 
world,  continue  for  some  time  to  use  the  term  ^  Obser- 
vation,' whilst  the  more  definite  term  ^Perception' 
will  be  confined  to  the  psychologist.  But  the  differ- 
ences involved  imply  more  than  is  indicated  by  the 
use  of  different  terms. 

Observation,  as  the  educationist  understands  it, 
implies  sensory  discrimination;  it  implies  also  per- 
ception, that  is,  the  identification  or  judgment  of 
what  is  sensorily  apprehended;  it  also  implies  the 
expression  of  these  judgments  in  linguistic  or 
graphic  forms.  And  the  educationist  argues  that, 
unless  the  psychological  experiments  which  are  con- 
ducted to  settle  his  difficulties  take  cognizance  of  all 
the  aspects  of  the  case  important  to  him,  he  cannot 
be  expected  to  change  his  practices  in  consequence 
of  their  results.  This  contention  may  be  granted 
with  the  proviso  that,  so  far  as  is  known  at  present, 
he  must  admit  the  declaration  of  the  psychologist 
against  his  all-round  faculty  of  observation,  and 


4  CHILDKEN  S   PEBCEPTIONS 

must  show  transfer  from  one  field  of  observation  to 
another  before  basing  his  practices  upon  a  belief  in 
it.  Observation  should  lie  within  those  sensory  fields 
and  be  directed  to  that  subject-matter,  which,  on  in- 
dustrial or  aesthetic  grounds,  it  is  desirable  to  culti- 
vate and  learn. 

The  argument  from  the  well-known  narrowing  in- 
fluence of  scientific  specialism  is  countered  by  the 
growing  knowledge  of  the  character  of  some  of  our 
best  attested  correlations.  These  specialists,  com- 
pared with  children,  are  veritable  giants  in  observa- 
tion. In  the  physical  world,  we  know  quite  well  that 
giants  are  stupid  people.  But  if  we  argue  in  conse- 
quence that  big  children  are  more  likely  to  be  stupid 
than  little  ones — a  not  uncommon  opinion  even 
among  teachers — ^we  shall  be  flying  directly  in  the 
face  of  the  facts.  The  Chicago  Department  of  Peda- 
gogical Investigation  showed,  years  ago,  that  the  re- 
verse is  the  truth.  Age  for  age,  big  children  are 
mentally  in  advance  of  smaller  ones.  The  same 
conclusion  resulted  from  the  facts  collected  by  me  in 
London  some  eight  years  ago,  and  I  believe  corre- 
sponding evidence  has  been  collected  in  Germany. 
So  that,  though  bodily  growth,  pushed  to  its  extreme 
limit,  as  in  giants,  is  certainly  correlated  negatively 
with  mental  growth,  that  relationship  is  not  true  in 
general,  and  certainly  not  among  children,  for 
among  them  bodily  growth  and  mental  growth  in 
large  measure  vary  together. 

Hence  we  may  not  argue  from  the  limiting  nature 
of  the  specialist's  absorption — the  one  seeing  noth- 
ing but  plants,  another  nothing  but  machines,  an- 
other nothing  but  microbes,  to  which  ends  their  ob- 


HOW  CAN  CHILDREN  BE  TAUGHT  TO  OBSERVE  D 

servation  has  been  solely  directed,  and  is  indeed  effi- 
cient for  no  other  purpose — that  the  limited  training 
of  observation  in  school  children  would  have  a  simi- 
larly contracting  effect.  Moderate  amounts  of  ob- 
servational work  might  expand  the  observational 
powers  in  many  directions  rather  than  contract  them. 
A  child  might  see  more  in  machinery  because  he  had 
been  trained  to  see  something  in  plants. 

To  all  this  the  apostle  of  the  doctrines  of  experi- 
mental pedagogy  can  only  say:  ''Let  us  try  it  and 
see. ' '  For  he  is  convinced  only  that  argument  from 
extreme  cases  in  adult  life  to  what  happens  with  chil- 
dren is  worse  than  useless ;  it  is  misleading. 

Moreover,  it  is  argued  that  the  extreme  anti-fac- 
ulty doctrine  implies  too  early  a  commencement  of 
a  child's  life  work.  And  it  is  asserted  that  there  is 
a  necessary  field  for  observation  in  the  early  years 
of  childhood,  which  is  not,  and  cannot  be  specialized ; 
the  child  must  learn  to  observe  the  realities  and  the 
pictorial  representations  of  the  world  around  him. 
Here  is  a  common  basis  upon  which  facultists  and 
anti-facultists  can  agree.  If  this  early  observation 
helps  afterwards  to  the  specialized  observation  re- 
quired in  the  world  of  work,  so  much  the  better. 
But  if  it  does  not,  it  is  necessary  for  its  own  sake. 
And  no  one  doubts  that  there  are  some  common  ele- 
ments of  sensory  discrimination  and  some  common 
elements  of  expression,  whose  improvement  will  be 
common  to  both  kinds  of  subject-matter.  That  they 
do  not  go  so  far  as  used  to  be  thought  will  no  doubt 
influence  the  school-curriculum  in  its  later  years ;  its 
subject-matter  will  become  more  specialized  and 
'futures'  will  be  dealt  in  more  largely  than  at  pres- 


6  CHILDBEN^S   PEKCEPTIONS 

ent.  But  though  ^training  of  the  faculty'  is  not 
everything,  far  from  it,  we  ought,  notwithstanding, 
to  find  out  the  most  disciplinary  method  for  the 
teaching  and  learning  of  that  which,  on  other 
grounds,  we  have  decided  should  be  acquired. 

Let  us  suppose  we  have  decided  that  every  child 
shall  be  taught  to  observe  the  world  around  him. 
Plow  shall  it  be  done?  May  we  ever  use  pictures? 
German  schools  have,  for  years,  used  them  in  con- 
nection with  their  Anschammg-VnterricM.^  The 
teaoher  asks  a  number  of  stereotyped  questions 
about  a  picture  and  the  children  answer  them,  also 
in  stereotyped  form,  with  much  attention  to  correct 
linguistic  expression.  This  exercise  has  its  uses  as 
an  introduction  to  German  Composition  (Germany 
is  a  country  of  dialects,  be  it  remembered),  but  1 
saw  no  real  effort  of  actual  perception,  thought  and 
memory,  such  as  is  required  by  Aussage  exercises — 
also  German — framed  by  educational  psychologists. 

We  require  so  to  teach  and  train  that  our  pupils 
know  more  about  the  lesson  next  iveek  than  they  do 
immediately  after  it,  and  are  made  more  and  not 
less  expert  in  attacking  all  forms  of  analogous  ma- 
terial. 

Impossible?  A  counsel  of  perfection?  Yes,  it 
certainly  is,  so  long  as  education,  as  with  us  in  Eng- 
land, means  as  much  talking  by  the  teacher  as  it  does 
at  present. 

But  it  is  not  impossible;  nay,  it  is  the  ordinary 
course  of  things  when  lessons  are  so  chosen  that, 
with  effort,  the  children  can  do  them,  and  when  their 


*W.  H.  Winch,  German  Schools,  page  203  et  seq. 


HOW  CAN  CHILDKEN  BE  TAUGHT  TO  OBSERVE  7 

mental  activities  are  fully  enlisted  in  the  work.  I 
am  not  arguing  that  there  is  no  place  for  teaching. 
On  the  contrary.  I  have  tried  to  estimate  its  value 
statistically  as  compared  with  practice  alone.*  But 
there  are  many  valuable  mental  exercises  where 
teaching  can  profitably  become  a  minimum,  and 
where  self-expression  and  self-correction  can  be 
wholly  employed.  Among  such  exercises  are  these 
Aussage  or  ^observation'  lessons.  But  it  is  time  to 
discontinue  didactics.  A  necessary  preliminary  to 
a  real  advance  in  any  educational  question  is  a  dis- 
passionate survey  of  what  actually  exists  psycho- 
logically in  its  bearings  on  the  dispute.  Germany 
and  America  have  shown  the  lead  in  Aussage  work 
with  children.  I  offer  this  English  contribution  with 
full  recognition  of  the  claims  of  my  forerunners. 

In  one  important  respect — there  are  many  minor 
modifications — this  work  claims  to  constitute  an  ad- 
vance. I  have  tried  to  make  a  statistical  estimate  of 
the  complex  of  functions  called  '  observation. '  Such 
an  estimate  is  imperative  if  we  are  ever  to  come  to 
any  definite  conclusions  about  many  of  the  questions 
raised  in  this  research.  What  children  do  observe 
and  how  much  they  observe  ought  to  be  known  pre- 
liminaries to  all  educational  theory  about  observa- 
tion, and  this  research  is  offered  in  the  hope  that  the 
following  experiments  may  help  to  advance  our 
knowledge  in  both  these  respects. 


♦How  a  Teacher  can  test  the  Value  of  his  own  Methods.     Child- 
Study,  July,  1912. 


CHAPTER  II. 
GENERAL  PLAN  OF  THE  EXPERIMENTS. 

The  work  about  to  be  described  was  modelled  on 
the  'Aussage'  experiments  of  Professor  Stern  with 
his  own  children  described  in  Erinnerung,  Aussage 
und  Luge  in  der  ersten  Kindheit* 

Very  broadly,  the  method  of  the  experiment  was 
the  same  in  all  cases,  though  there  were  minor  modi- 
fications in  detail.  First,  the  child  or  children  who 
were  taking  part  in  the  experiment  were  told  that  a 
picture  was  about  to  be  shown  to  them,  and  that  they 
were  going  to  be  asked  to  tell  all  about  it  after- 
wards. Then  the  picture,f  Das  Fruhstiick  Bild,  was 
shown  for  exactly  one  minute,  after  which  the  child 
was  invited  to  say  what  he  had  seen  in  the  picture. 
The  statement  then  made  was  free  and  unprompted 
in  any  way,  and  is  alluded  to  henceforward  as  ^  The 
First  Spontaneous  Eeport.'  After  this  report  had 
been  given,  the  experimenter  asked  a  number  of 
questions,  and  the  child  answered  them.  These  an- 
swers will  be  alluded  to  as  ^The  First  Set  of  An- 
swers.'   Then,  exactly  one  week  later,  on  the  same 


♦I  wish  ta  tender  my  thanks  to  Professor  Marie  Diirr-Borst  and  to 
Professor  William  Stern  for  permission  to  utilize  the  picture  **Da$ 
Fruhstiick  Bild:* 

tThis  picture  will  be  found  in  the  front  pages  of  the  book  in  a  de- 
tached form,  so  that  the  reader  may  easily  refer  to  it  in  conjunction 
with  any  and  every  page  of  the  monograph. 

8 


GENERAL  PLAN  OF  THE  EXPERIMENT  ^ 

day  of  the  school  week,  at  the  same  time  of  day,  and 
after  the  same  school  lesson  as  before,  without  any 
further  exhibition  of  it,  the  child  was  asked  once 
more  to  tell  about  the  picture  .  The  statement  then 
made  will  be  referred  to  as  *The  Second  Spontane- 
ous Eeport.'  The  questions  previously  asked  were 
repeated ;  the  answers  given  on  this  occasion  will  be 
referred  to  as  'The  Second  Set  of  Answers.'  Fi- 
nally, the  picture  was  shown  again  immediately  after 
the  Second  Set  of  Answers  had  been  given,  and  the 
children  were  told  to  put  anything  right  which  they 
had  said  wrong.  The  statements  then  made  will  be 
referred  to  as  '  The  Self-Correction. '  For  each  child, 
therefore,  there  are  five  separate  sets  of  data— a 
First  Spontaneous  Eeport,  a  First  Set  of  Answers, 
a  Second  Spontaneous  Eeport,  a  Second  Set  of  An- 
swers, and  a  Self-Correction. 

The  first  work  was  done  in  London  in  two  munici- 
pal infants'  schools,  in  one  boys'  school,  and  in  one 
girls'  school.  In  the  case  of  the  infants — children 
from  3  to  7  years  of  age — the  work  was  done  indi- 
vidually; that  is  tc  say,  each  child  was  taken  sepa- 
rately by  the  experimenter  in  a  room  apart.  In  the 
boys'  and  girls'  schools  the  children  were  taken  in 
groups  or  classes.  I  propose  first  to  describe  the 
work  done  in  the  poorer  of  the  two  infants'  schools. 
By  'poorer,'  I  mean  situated  in  a  neighborhood  of 
somewhat  inferior  social  class. 


CHAPTER  HI. 
FIRST  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS.     SCHOOL  A. 

This  school  is  a  municipal  school  of  medium  size, 
according  to  English  ideas  of  size — a  German  or  an 
American  would  call  it  a  small  school.  It  contains 
some  400  children  whose  ages  range  from  3  to  7 
years.  It  is  situated  in  a  poor  neighborhood,  though 
not  in  one  of  the  poorest.  If  the  elementary  schools 
of  London  were  graded  into  four  groups  in  accord- 
ance with  the  social  class  of  the  children  attending 
the  schools,  this  school  would  be  found  in  the  third 
group,  that  is,  towards  the  bottom  end  of  the  scale. 
The  school  staff  is  a  good  one,  and  the  Head  Mistress 
has  had  much  practice  in  experimental  work.  About 
one-third  of  the  observations  were  made  by  the  Mis- 
tress and  myself  jointly;  the  remainder  were  made 
by  the  Mistress  alone. 

Even  with  the  unstinted  aid  of  the  Mistress,  it 
would  have  been  almost  an  impossibility  to  take 
every  child  in  the  school  individually  through  this 
Aussage  experiment;  but  it  was  hoped  that,  by  very 
careful  choice  of  representative  pupils  of  every  age 
from  3  to  7  years,  the  inaccuracy  due  to  selection 
might  be,  if  not  obviated,  at  least  reduced  within 
very  narrow  limits. 

First  we  found  out  how  many  children  there  were 
of  each  age  in  the  whole  school ;  then  we  decided  to 

10 


FIRST  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS  11 

take  ten  of  each  age,  that  is,  ten  3-year-old  boys  and 
girls,  ten  4-year-old  boys  and  girls,  and  so  on.  All 
the  children  of  one  age  would  not  be  found  in  the 
same  class  or  grade  of  mental  proficiency;  thus, 
every  child  of  6  years  would  not  be  found  in  Grade 
III  (an  infant-school  grading) ;  some  would  be 
higher  and  some  would  be  lower  in  the  school.  So 
the  ten  6-year-old  children  were  selected  partly  from 
one  class  and  partly  from  another,  according  to  the 
proportion  of  6-year-old  children  contained  in  each 
class  in  relation  to  the  total  number  of  6-year-old 
children  in  the  school.  A  similar  procedure  was 
adopted  for  the  selection  of  typical  children  of  other 
ages.  A  further  condition  was  insisted  on :  the  chil- 
dren chosen  from  each  class  were  to  consist  of  clever, 
medium  and  dull  children  in  equal  proportions,  and 
the  children  were  chosen  so  that,  for  each  age-group, 
the  average  age  would  be  about  half-way  between 
the  limits  of  age  for  the  group.  Thus  the  7-year-old 
children  would  be  so  selected  that  their  average  age 
would  amount  to  7  years  6  months;  the  6-year-old 
children  would  average  6  years  6  months ;  and  so  on. 
The  work  was  necessarily  spread  over  many  months, 
and  there  is  always  a  possibility  that  the  teachers 
of  the  classes,  unless  they  are  accustomed  to  experi- 
mental work,  may,  if  aware  of  the  nature  of  what  is 
being  done,  set  themselves,  as  it  were,  to  ^ teach  up' 
to  it.  Consequently,  great  care  was  taken  that  the 
character  of  the  exercises  should  not  be  made  known 
to  the  class  teachers  until  every  child  had  done  all 
that  was  required.  Subsequently,  the  method  of 
the  experiment,  with  certain  modifications,  was 
adopted  in  this  school  as  a  method  of  teaching ;  but, 


12  children's  perceptions 

at  the  time  of  the  experiment  and  previous  to  it,  no 
such  methods  were  in  operation. 

As  will  be  remembered,  the  plan  of  the  experiment 
required  that  the  first  spontaneous  report  should  be 
given  just  after  the  child  had  looked  at  the  picture 
for  one  minute.  The  first  interrogatory  followed 
immediately.  Then  a  week  later,  a  second  report 
was  given  and  a  second  interrogatory  was  made. 
At  the  conclusion  of  the  second  interrogatory,  the 
self-correction  was  asked  for  in  the  way  already  ex- 
plained— the  self-correction  involving  a  look  at  the 
picture  for  the  second  time.  The  four  previous  ex- 
ercises, namely,  the  First  Eeport,  the  First  Set  of 
Answers,  the  Second  Eeport,  and  the  Second  Set  of 
Answers,  all  depended  wholly  upon  observations 
made  by  the  child  during  one  minute  at  the  beginning 
of  the  experiment. 

At  this  juncture  I  ask  those  who  read  this  ac- 
count, if  they  are  not  already  experts  in  experi- 
mental work  with  children,  to  endeavor  to  take  this 
experiment  themselves,  with  one  or  two  children 
at  least.  It  will  add  to  the  ease  with  which  the  fol- 
lowing account  is  comprehended  if  the  exercises  are 
taken  with  the  self -same  picture,  namely,  ^^Das 
Friihstuch  Bild''  (The  Breakfast  Picture). 

I  think  also  it  will  add  to  the  facility  with  which 
the  summing  up  of  my  results  and  the  subsequent  dis- 
cussion are  apprehended,  and  further  will  lead  to  a 
more  critical  comprehension  of  them,  if  I  give  some 
actual  examples  of  what  was  done  by  the  children 
individually,  and  show  in  detail  how  the  exercises 
were  marked. 


FIRST  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS  13 

I.    The  Work  of  the  Three- Year-Old  Children  of 
School  A.* 

Ena  M ,  aged  3  years  and  10  months,  gave  her 

First  Spontaneous  Eeport  at  10.30  a.  m.,  on  May  6th, 
1910.    It  ran  as  follows : — 

Ena  M — —'s  First  Spontaneous  Report. 

^^ A  little  hoy — a  mother — a  chair — a  table — drip- 
ping— basin — a  flower — a  dolly. '^ 

Method  of  Marking  the  Spontaneous  Reports. 

I  suggest  the  feasibility  of  making  a  numerical 
estimate  of  these  reports,  and  I  propose  to  do  so  on 
a  basis  of  correct  units  of  observation.  Observation, 
in  the  sense  in  which  it  has  always  been  understood 
by  English  pedagogy,  implies  perception  and  the 
expression  of  it :  there  is  an  additional  factor  here, 
for  memory  for  a  short  period,  a  very  short  period, 
is  also  implied. 

The  child,  Ena  M ,  is  obviously  in  what  has 

been  called  the  enumerative  stage;  she  names  per- 
sons and  things  without  any  account  of  actions,  of 
qualities,  or  of  the  spatial  relations  between  the  per- 
sons or  things  in  the  picture.  Some  of  her  identifi- 
cations are  not  correct,  but  we  have  to  ask  ourselves 
if  they  are  allowable  as  fair  interpretations  for  an 
English  child?  The  picture  is  a  German  one,  and 
some  of  the  objects,  as,  for  example,  the  ^  black 


*lt  must  be  understood  at  the  outset  that  reliable  results  with  very 
young  children  cannot  be  obtained  by  persons  who  are  unaccustomed  to 
work  with  them.  A  combination  of  sympathy  and  gentle  insistence  are 
required  in  the  experimenter.  The  questions  are  large  in  number  for 
little  ones,  and  irrelevancies  and  periods  of  inattention  are  to  be  ex- 
pected. The  experimenter  with  patience  will  lead  the  children  back 
again  to  the  matter  in  hand. 


14  children's  perceptions 

bread'  and  the  school  boy's  *  satchel,'  are  not  in 
forms  with  which  English  children  are  acquainted. 
Consequently,  a  certain  latitude  of  identification 
was  allowed;  'basin,'  for  example,  was  accepted  as  a 
correct  description  of  the  bread  in  the  picture.  But 
it  was  not  thought  that  either  'dripping'  or  'a  dolly' 
were  fair  interpretations  of  any  actual  perception, 
so  that  no  marks  were  allowed  for  these.  The  word 
''boy"  is  qualified  as  "little  boy;"  but  teachers  of 
young  children  are  of  opinion  that  it  is  not  a  real 
qualification;  they  hold  that  'boy'  and  'little  boy' 
are  identical  in  meaning  for  young  children ;  so  that 
no  additional  mark  was  given  for  the  apparent  quali- 
fication. 

Thus  Ena  M receives  6  marks  for  her  first 

spontaneous  report;  one  for  'little  boy,'  one  for 
'mother,'  one  for  'chair,'  one  for  'table,'  one  for 
'basin'  and  one  for  'flower.' 

I  append,   immediately  following,   Ena  M 's 

Second  Spontaneous  Eeport  given  at  10.30  a.  m.  on 
May  13th.  I  place  the  two  reports  in  proximity  for 
convenience  of  comparison,  but,  in  actual  operation, 
the  First  Interrogatory  immediately  followed  the 
First  Report,  and  these  were  separated  by  an  inter- 
val of  exactly  one  week  from  the  Second  Report. 

Ena  M 's  Second  Spontaneous  Report. 

'^ A  chair — a  table — a  box — a  flower — a  boy — the 
mother — basin — a  knife/' 

It  may  be  profitably  noted  that  the  two  inaccurate 
enumerations,  namely,  'dripping'  and  'a  dolly', 
which  were  given  in  the  First  Report,  have  dropped 
out,  and  two  new  items  have  come  in.     These  are 


FIRST  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS  15 

*box'  and  *  knife,'  both  of  which  were  referred  to  in 
the  first  interrogatory  a  week  previous.  The  addi- 
tional units  of  correct  observation,  therefore,  so  far 
as  this  child's  work  is  concerned,  may  be  due  to  the 
suggestive  influence  of  certain  questions  in  the  first 
interrogatory.  Whatever  be  the  cause,  the  second 
report,  as  indeed  is  almost  invariably  the  case' with 
children,  contains  more  units  of  correct  observation 
than  the  first.  The  mark  for  the  Second  Spontane- 
ous Eeport  is  easily  seen  to  be  eight  as  compared 
with  six  for  the  First  Spontaneous  Report. 

I  will  now   show  Ena  M 's   answers  to  the 

First  Interrogatory  and  Second  Interrogatory,  side 
by  side.  They  are  given  thus  for  purposes  of  con- 
venience, but  there  was  exactly  a  week's  interval 
between  them;  and  the  Second  Set  of  Answers  to 
Questions  actually  followed  in  time  the  Second 
Spontaneous  Report.  The  reader  is  requested 
to  compare  the  answers,  question  by  question, 
with  the  actual  picture. 

Ena  M 's  First  and  Second  Sets  of  Answers  Given  on  May 

6th  and  May  13th,  Respectively,  at  10.35  A.  M. 

First  Set  of  Second  Set  of 

Questions.  Answers.  Answers. 

1.  Which  side  of  the  table  On    the   other   side  Over  there  (showed 

was  the  lady  standing?        (showed    wrong-       wrongly). 

ly)^ 

2.  What  was  she  doing?         Holding  some  pud-   Making  a  pudding. 

ding. 

3.  How  was  the  lady  hold-  Like  that    (showed  Like  that    (showed 

ing   what   she   had   in       wrongly),  wrongly), 

her  hand? 

4.  Had   the   lady    anything  Yes — dripping.  Yes — dripping. 

else  in  her  hand  beside 
the  thing  you  have 
told  me  about? 

5.  What    clothes    was    the  A  frock,  A  dress  and  a  pin- 


16 


CHILDKEN  S   PEKCEPTIONS 


Questions. 

lady  wearing? 

6.  What  sort  of  a  hat  had 

she? 

7.  What   was   she   wearing 

on  her  feet? 

8.  Could  you  see  her  feet? 

9.  Had   she   a   pinafore   or 

apron  on? 

10.  Had  she  a  frock  on? 

11.  What     color     was     her 

blouse  or  the  top  part 
of  her  frock? 

12.  What     color     was     her 

skirt? 

13.  What     color     was     her 

apron  or  pinafore? 

14.  What     color     were     her 

boots  or  shoes? 

15.  What     color     was     her 

hair? 

16.  What   was   the   boy   do- 

ing? 

17.  How     was     he     holding 

what    he    had    in    his 
hand? 

18.  Where    were    the    boy's 

feet? 

19.  What  clothes  was  the  boy 

wearing? 

20.  What  color  was  the  boy's 

coat  or  jacket? 

21.  What     color     were     the 

boy's        trousers        or 
knickers  ? 

22.  What     color     were     the 

boy's  boots  or  shoes? 

23.  What     color     were     the 

boy's  stockings? 

24.  What  color  was  his  hair? 

25.  What  sort  of  boots  had 

the  boy? 

26.  What  sort  of  shoes  had 

he? 

27.  Did  you  see  anything  un- 

der the  boy's  chair? 

28.  Did    you    see    a    jug    or 

vase? 


First  Set  of 
Answers. 


A  hlue  hat. 

(No  answer.) 

Yes. 
Yes. 

Yes. 
Oreen. 

Blue. 
Green. 
Yellow. 
Green. 


Second  Set  of 
Answers. 

afore. 
(No  answer.) 

(No  answer.) 

Yes. 
Yes. 

Yes. 
Blue. 


Green. 
Green. 
Blue. 
Green. 


Playing     and     had  Playing     and     had 

some  cake.  some  cake. 

( Showed  wrongly. )     ( Showed  wrongly. ) 


On  the  floor. 

On  the  floor. 

Trousers  on. 
Green. 

Had    a    coat    and 

trousers  on. 
Green. 

Blue. 

Green. 

Green. 

Green. 

Green. 

Green. 

Green. 

A  pair  of  loots. 

Green. 

A  pair  of  hoots. 

Blue. 

Blue. 

(No  answer.) 

(No  answer.) 

Yes. 

Yes. 

FraST  SERIES  OP  EXPERIMENTS 


17 


Questions. 

29.  What  color  was  the  jug 

or  vase? 

30.  Did  you  see  anything  on 

the  floor  near  the  jug 
or  vase? 

31.  What     color     was     the 

table? 

32.  What   else   was   on    the 

table  besides  the  thing 
the  lady  was  holding? 

33.  Did  you  see  a  knife? 

34.  Whereabouts  on  the  ta- 

ble was  it? 

35.  What     color     was     the 

knife? 

36.  Did    you    see    a    flower- 

pot? 

37.  Where  was  it? 

38.  What     color     were     the 

flowers  ? 

39.  How  many  flowers  were 

there? 

40.  What     color     were     the 

leaves  ? 

41.  How   many   leaves   were 

there? 

42.  What     color     was     the 

flower-pot  ? 

43.  What     color     was     the 

box? 

44.  What     could     you     see 

through  the  open  win- 
dow? 

45.  What     could     you     see 

through  the  open  door? 

46.  Did  you  see  a  window? 

47.  What     color     were     the 

walls  of  the  room? 

48.  What  color  was  the  car- 

pet? 

49.  Did  you  see  a  carpet? 

50.  What  room  was  it? 


First  Set  of 
Answers. 

Second  Set  of 
Answers. 

Green, 

Green. 

(No  answer.) 

(No  answer.) 

Green. 

Green. 

Butter. 

Dripping. 

Yes. 

There   (showed 

wrongly). 
Green. 

Yes. 

There   (showed 

wrongly). 
Green. 

Yes. 

Yes. 

On  the  floor. 
Blue. 

On  a  hox. 
Blue. 

Three. 

Four. 

Blue. 

Blue. 

One,  two,  three. 

Three. 

Green. 

Green. 

Green. 

Green. 

A  lady. 

A  lady. 

(No  answer.) 

(No  answer.) 

Yes. 
Green. 

Yes. 
Green. 

Green. 

Green. 

Yes. 

(No  answer.) 

Yes. 

(No  answer.) 

It  will  probably  be  useful  for  illustrative  purposes 
if  I  give  one  more  complete  record  of  the  work  of  a 
three-year-old  child  before  passing  on  to  a  general 


18  CHILDREN'S   PERCEPTIONS 

discussion  of  the  questions  and  answers  of  these 
three-year-old  children.  The  work  given  below  is 
that  of  a  boy,  but  the  reader  is  cautioned  against 
drawing  any  general  conclusions  about  sex  differ- 
ences on  the  basis  of  this  and  the  preceding '  dossier. ' 

On  May  6th,  1910,  at  11.30  a.  m.,  Eobert  H , 

aged  3  years  8  months,  saw  the  picture  for  one  min- 
ute and  made  his  First  Spontaneous  Report.  It  ran 
thus: 

Robert  H 's  First  Spontaneous  Report. 


(( 


^ A   little  hoy — a  lady — flowers — a  cupboard — a 
vase — a  pudding — a  table — a  barrow  on  the  floor." 

Robert  is  still  almost  confined  to  the  enumerative 
stage.  He  mentions  nine  persons  and  things,  and 
for  this  receives  nine  marks  for  correct  observation, 
for  ^barrow'  is  regarded  as  a  fair  identification  of 
the  German  satchel  for  a  three-year-old  English  boy. 
But  Robert  is  passing  beyond  the  enumerative  stage ; 
he  has  placed  the  *  barrow'  in  relation  to  the  floor  by 
using  the  preposition  '  on. '  This  positional  reference 
should  also  carry  a  mark.  It  is  probable  that,  as 
representing  a  higher  mental  stage  than  mere  enum- 
eration, it  should  carry  more  than  one  mark;  but 
partly  to  save  complexity  of  marking  and  partly  be- 
cause I  did  not  know  how  many  marks  to  give,  I  de- 
cided, at  least  provisionally,  to  give  one  mark  for  all 
positional  references.  Robert  therefore  receives  10 
marks  for  his  first  Report. 

Then  followed  his  first  interrogation,  the  answers 
to  which  I  will  give  later. 

On  May  13th,  a  week  later,  at  11.30  a.  m.,  he  gave 


FIRST  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS  19 

his  second  report  without  again  seeing  the  picture. 
It  ran  thus : 

Robert  H 's  Second  Spontaneous  Report. 

^'A  hoy  on  a  chair — a  lady  against  the  table — a 
-floor — a  box — a  flower — a  vase — a  pudding — a  bar- 
row on  the  floor. ^' 

He  enumerates  the  same  things  as  before,  with 
the  addition  of  the  chair.  This  time  he  has  made 
three  positional  references,  the  boy  is  ^on'  a  chair, 
the  lady  is  'against'  the  table,  and,  as  before,  the 
barrow  is  *on'  the  floor.  He  mentions  'floor'  twice, 
but,  of  course,  does  not  receive  an  additional  mark 
because  he  mentions  it  a  second  time.  For  this  re- 
port Eobert  receives  13  marks,  an  improvement  of 
30  per  cent,  on  his  first  record. 

Then  followed  immediately  his  second  interroga- 
tion and  his  self-correction  exercise.  The  results  of 
the  two  interrogations  follow : 

Robert  H 's  First  and  Second  Sets  of  Answers  Given  on  May 

6th  and  May  13th,  Respectively,  at  11.35  A.  M. 

First  Set  of  Second  Set  of 

Questions.  Answers.  Answers. 

1.  Which  side  of  the  table    There  {showed  There   {showed 

was    the    lady    standi  wrongly).  wrongly). 
ing. 

2.  What  was  she  doing?  Making  a  pudding.  Making  a  pudding. 

3.  How    was    she    holding  Like   this    {showed  Like   this    {showed 

what   she   had   in   her       wrongly).  wrongly). 

hand? 

4.  Had    the    lady    anything    Yes,  Bird's*  cus-        Yes,   Bird's   cue- 

else    in    her    hand   be-        tard.  tard. 

sides    what    you    have 
told  me  about? 

5.  What    clothes    was    the   Clothes.  A  lot  of  clothes. 

lady  wearing? 

6.  What  sort  of  a  hat  had   Blue.  (No  answer.) 

she? 


♦Bird  is  the  name  of  a  custard  maker  in  England. 


20 


CHILDREN  S   PERCEPTIONS 


Questions. 

7.  What   was    she   wearing 

on  her  feet? 

8.  Could  you  see  them? 

9.  Had   she   a   pinafore   or 

apron  on? 

10.  Had  she  a  frock  on? 

11.  What     color     was     her 

blouse  or  the  top  part 
of  her  frock? 

12.  What     color     was     her 

skirt? 

13.  What     color     was     her 

apron  or  pinafore? 

14.  What     color     were     her 

boots? 

15.  What     color     was     her 

hair? 

16.  What    was    the   boy   do- 

ing? 

17.  How  was  he  holding  it? 


18.  Where    were    the    boy's 

feet? 

19.  What    clothes    was    the 

boy  wearing? 

20.  What  color  was  the  boy's 

jacket  or  coat? 

21.  What     color     were     his 

trousers  or  knickers? 

22.  What     color     were     his 

boots  or  shoes? 

23.  What     color     were     the 

boy's  stockings? 

24.  What  color  was  his  hair? 

25.  What  sort  of  boots  had 

the  boy? 

26.  What  sort  of  shoes  had 

he? 

27.  Did  you  see  anything  un- 

der the  boy's  chair? 


First  Set  of 
Answers. 

Second  Set  of 
Answers. 

Boots, 

Boots, 

Yes. 
Yes, 

Yes. 
Yes. 

Yes. 
Blue.  . 

Yes. 
Blue, 

Red. 

Blue. 

White. 

White, 

Red. 

Black, 

Black. 

Black. 

He  was  eating  an- 
other pudding. 

Like    this    (showed 
wrongly).  It  was 

Eating   a   piece   of 

pudding. 
Like   this    (showed 

wrongly). 

made  of  custard, 

B  ir  d^  s,      you 

know,  donH  you; 

Bird's     for     the 

custard? 
On    the    hig    stick 

under   the   chair. 
He     had     a     blue 

jersey    and    blue 

trousers. 
Red. 

Blue. 

Red, 

Black, 


On  the  big  stick 
under   the  chair. 

Blue  trousers,  blue 
waistcoat  and 
blue  jersey. 

Blue, 

Blue. 

Black, 

Black. 


Red. 
Black, 

Red. 

Yes. 


Red, 

Black. 

Red, 
Yes, 


FIBST  SEBIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS 


21 


First  Set  of 

Second  Set  op 

Questions. 

Answers. 

Answers. 

28. 

Did    you    see    a   jug    or 

vase? 

Yes. 

Yes. 

29. 

What  color  was  the  jug 
or  vase? 

Blue, 

Blue. 

30. 

What  did  you  see  on  the 
floor  near  the  jug  or 
vase? 

A  thing. 

A  barrow. 

31. 

What  color  was  the  ta- 
ble? 

Red. 

Red. 

32. 

What  else  was  there  on 

Bread    and    hutter 

Bread    and    butter 

the  table  besides  what 

and  tea. 

and  tea. 

the  lady  was  holding? 

33. 

Did  you  see  a  knife? 

Yes,    just    hy    the 

Yes,    just    by    the 

side  of  him. 

side  of  him. 

34. 

Whereabouts  on  the  ta- 

By the  table  (show- 

By the  table  (show- 

ble was  it? 

ed  wrongly). 

ed  wrongly). 

35. 

What     color     was     the 

Black,  and  blue  on 

Black,  and  blue  on 

knife? 

it. 

it. 

36. 

Did    you    see    a    flower- 
pot? 

Yes. 

Yes. 

37. 

Where  was  it? 

On  the  cupboard. 

On  the  box. 

38. 

What     color     were     the 
flowers? 

Blue. 

Blue. 

39. 

How  many  flowers  were 
there? 

A  lot. 

A  lot. 

40. 

What     color     were     the 
leaves? 

Red. 

Red. 

41. 

How   many   leaves   were 
there? 

A  lot. 

A  lot. 

42. 

What     color     was     the 
flower-pot? 

Red. 

Red. 

43. 

What  color  was  the  cup- 
board or  box? 

Blue. 

Blue. 

44. 

What  did  you  see  through 
the  open  window? 

(No  answer.) 

Nothing. 

45. 

What  did  you  see  through 
the  open  door? 

Houses. 

Horses  and  carta. 

46. 

Did  you  see  a  window? 

Yes. 

Yes. 

47. 

What     color     were     the 
walls  of  the  room? 

Blue  and  white. 

Blue. 

48. 

What  color  was  the  car- 
pet? 

Blue  and  red. 

Blue. 

49. 

Did  you  see  a  carpet? 

Yes. 

Yes. 

50. 

What  room  was  it? 

The  kitchen. 

The  kitchen. 

Robert  H is  marked  aS  having 

r  17  correct  an- 

swers  the  first  week  and  21  the  second  week.    On  the 


22  CHILDREN'S    PERCEPTIONS 

first  occasion  only  two  color  names  were  applied  cor- 
rectly, and  these  answers  may  be  random  shots ;  for  a 
subsequent  investigation  showed  that  he  called  red 
things  blue;  even  his  own  red  Jersey,  to  which  he 
was  well  accustomed,  was  called  *blue'  quite  unhesi- 
tatingly. As  might  have  been  expected,  he  knew  the 
names  of  boys'  clothes  and  mentioned  various  gar- 
ments quite  spontaneously,  whilst  he  *  hedged'  in  the 
case  of  the  lady's  clothes  by  vague  expressions;  and, 
though  the  names  of  the  lady's  clothes  were  used  in 
the  questions,  he  remained  quite  vague.  But  he  is 
certainly  one  of  the  most  intelligent  of  the  3-year 
old  boys  in  this  school,  and  had  correctly  noticed 
many  things  in  his  one  minute's  look  at  the  picture. 
As  is  usually  the  case,  his  second  interrogatory  is 
better  than  his  first;  and  a  careful  comparison  of 
his  second  week's  answers  with  those  of  his  first 
may  indicate  how  far  the  actual  suggestiveness  of 
the  first  week's  questions  have  favorably  or  unfav- 
orably influenced  his  second  week's  answers.  The 
lady's  skirt,  which  he  calls  ^*Eed"  the  first  time,  he 
calls  *'Blue"  the  second  time,  and  gets  a  mark  for 
his  second  answer ;  this  may  very  well  be  a  chance 
shot.  He  calls  the  lady's  and  the  boy's  boots  **Red" 
the  first  time  and  *' Black"  the  second  time,  and 
scores  marks  for  what  is  probably  the  knowledge 
that  boots  are  black  rather  than  for  correct  observa- 
tions of  the  boots  in  the  picture.  He  recovers  from 
two  suggestive  influences  which  somewhat  overcame 
him  in  the  first  week.  The  lady's  hat,  which  is  non- 
existent, he  calls  *'Blue"  the  first  week,  but  the  sec- 
ond week  gives  no  answer  to  the  question  **What 
sort  of  a  hat  had  she?"    To  the  question  ^*What  did 


FIRST  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS  23 

you  see  through  the  open  window  T '  he  gives  no  an- 
swer the  first  week,  but  says,  ^'Nothing,"  unhesitat- 
ingly, the  second  week.  The  walls  of  the  room  are 
correctly  described  as  *blue'  the  second  week,  but  are 
described  as  'blue  and  white'  the  preceding  week. 
In  all  other  respects  he  repeats  himself  almost  word 
for  word.  Two  of  his  identifications  change;  the 
'cupboard'  becomes  the  'box;'  this  may  have  been 
due  to  the  questions  in  which  the  word  'box'  was 
used.  'A  thing'  becomes  a  'barrow;'  these  expres- 
sions being  used  for  the  school  boy's  satchel. 

Method  of  Marking  the  Answers  to  the  Questions. 

I  hope  that  Aussage  experiments  with  this  Break- 
fast Picture  will  be  made  in  other  English  and  in 
American  schools,  and  that  teachers  and  psycholo- 
gists will  wish  to  compare  the  results  of  their  work 
with  those  of  mine.  If  this  is  likely  to  be  done,  it 
becomes  of  extreme  importance  for  me  to  make  quite 
clear  how  the  answers  were  marked.  What  is  a  right 
answer?  Hasty  persons,  among  whom  there  are 
some  educationists,  will  be  very  likely  to  pooh-pooh 
such  a  question,  and  to  regard  it  as  superfluous.  But 
it  is  a  very  necessary  one.  Let  me  put  it  in  another 
form.  How  far  shall  the  child  be  permitted  to  devi- 
ate from  our  adult  perceptual  attitude  and  our 
knowledge  before  we  call  his  answer  wrong?  With 
this  form  of  the  question  in  mind,  I  propose  to  discuss 
the  questions  and  the  kinds  of  answers  which  were 
accepted.  The  questions  vary  much  in  difficulty, 
and  I  suggest  to  the  teachers  that  they  put  a  mark 
against  those  which  they  think  the  most  difficult, 
those  which  they  think  of  medium  difficulty,  and 


24  CHILDKEN^S   PEBCEPTIONS 

those  which  they  think  are  easiest  for  children.  I 
can  promise  them  some  interesting  surprises  when 
they  come  to  compare  their  preconceived  opinions 
with  the  results  actually  found. 

Question  1.  Which  side  of  the  table  was  the  lady 
standing?  The  child  who  olbserved  the  picture  and 
was  questioned  about  it  afterwards,  stood  before  an 
actual  table,  at  one  end,  so  that  the  right-hand  side 
of  the  table  in  the  picture  where  the  lady  was  stand- 
ing, corresponded  with  the  right-hand  side  of  the 
actual  table,  where  the  child  was  standing.  Young 
children  would  therefore  almost  invariably  point  out 
where  the  lady  was  standing,  as  if  she  were  standing 
at  the  very  table  which  was  then  in  front  of  them. 
If  they  pointed  anywhere  along  the  right-hand  side 
of  the  table,  their  answer  was  accepted  as  correct. 
All  the  3-year-old  children  in  this  school  pointed  out 
a  place;  they  all  used  some  words  in  addition,  such 
as,  ^' There,"  '^Over  there,"  ^^On  the  other  side;" 
and  they  all,  except  one,  pointed  out  the  wrong  side 
of  the  table,  or  to  the  front,  or  to  the  back  of  it. 
This  is  in  striking  contrast  with  the  work  of  senior 
children,  as  we  shall  see  more  fully  by-and-by.  When 
we  come  to  classify  the  questions  later  on,  we  shall 
call  this  a  'position'  question,  and  we  shall  scarcely 
be  surprised  to  find  little  children  with  an  imperfect 
apprehension  of  position;  but  when  we  see  how  im- 
perfect we  shall  be  more  careful  in  our  teaching  than 
we  now  are  to  refrain  from  using  positional  terms  to 
them  which  are  almost  certain  to  be  misunderstood. 

Question  2.  What  was  the  lady  doing?  This 
question  apparently  admits  of  a  large  variety  of  an- 
swers.   A  sophisticated  adult  might,  with  consider- 


FIRST  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS  25 

able  justification,  say,  ^  ^  Nothing ; "  but  that  is  not 

usually  what  children  say.    Ena  M ,  as  we  saw 

above,  said,  *^ Holding  some  pudding''  for  her  first 
answer,  and  ^^ Making  a  pudding"  for  her  second  an- 
swer. Other  3-year-old  children  said,  ^*  Cutting  pud- 
ding," *^ Holding  the  pie,"  ^^ Cutting  the  bread" 
(three  children  said  this),  ^^She  had  a  pudding," 
^* Making  a  pudding,"  ^* She's  got  a  basin,"  ^* Put- 
ting the  dish  away."  All  the  answers  are  accepted 
in  which  it  is  obvious  that  the  children  have  ob- 
served that  the  woman  is  holding  something.  That 
is  the  action  of  the  woman  which  the  picture  por- 
trays. But  if  the  children  call  the  thing  she  is  hold- 
ing a  pie,  a  cake,  a  basin,  a  dish,  as  well  as  bread, 
are  their  identifications  to  be  accepted?  I  asked  a 
large  class  of  English  students — principals  and 
other  experienced  teachers — what  they  thought  the 
lady  was  holding.  Only  one  knew  it  was  a  loaf  of 
the  German  ^black-bread,'  which  had  figured  so 
hugely  on  English  placards  (but  drawn  wrongly) 
during  the  tariff  reform  and  free-trade  controversy 
at  recent  Parliamentary  elections.  The  majority 
I)lumped  for  Christmas  pudding  (they  had  recent 
memories  of  their  own)  and  what  Englishman  shall 
say  they  were  wrong !  Some  answers — a  very  few — 
were  given  to  this  question  which  did  not  deal  with 
what  the  woman  was  holding,  such  as,  *^  Looking 
down  at  the  table."  They  were  accepted  as  indicat- 
ing an  activity  of  the  woman,  though  a  less  obvious 
one  than  that  of  holding  the  cake ;  but  no  3-year-old 
child  gave  such  an  answer. 

Question  3.    How  ivas  the  lady  holding  what  she 
had  in  her  hand?    This  is  another  'position'  ques- 


26  children's  perceptions 

tion;  but  much  more  difficult  than  Question  1.  No 
3-year-old  child  was  able  to  answer  correctly ;  eight 
of  the  ten  of  them  showed  by  means  of  their  own 
arms  and  hands  how  the  lady  was  holding  the  thing, 
and  two  of  them  said,  ^^Like  this;"  one  said,  **With 
two  hands;''  another  said,  ^*As  if  she  was  going  to 
cut  the  bread;''  another,  *'With  that  hand;"  an- 
other, ^*In  her  hand;"  but  none  of  the  answers 
showed  that  the  children  had  observed  and  remem- 
bered that  one  of  the  woman's  hands  and  forearm 
were  round  the  front  of  the  bread,  and  that  the  other 
hand  was  lying  flat,  palm  downwards,  on  an  upper 
edge  of  it.  To  expect  a  correct  verbal  description 
of  these  positions,  even  from  older  children,  would 
be  absurd,  but  I  must  confess  to  some  surprise  at 
finding  no  spontaneous  observations,  or  almost  none, 
which  seemed  to  embrace  these  points. 

Question  4.  Had  the  lady  anything  else  in  her 
hand  beside  the  thing  you  have  told  me  about?  A 
reference  to  the  picture  will  show  that  the  lady  had 
nothing  else  in  her  hand.  What  then  is  the  pur- 
pose of  such  a  question  as  this?  Inspectors  and 
teachers  frequently  complain  that  children  **will 
say  anything,"  by  which  they  mean  they  will  ac- 
cept whatever  is  suggested  to  them,  even  if  it  be  put 
indirectly  as  a  question.  And  a  frequent  complaint 
against  many  of  our  methods  of  elementary  educa- 
tion is  based  upon  the  opinion  that  much  of  our  ap- 
parently excellent  teaching  results  in  a  sort  of  hyp- 
notism of  the  pupils  by  the  teacher.  The  teacher  con- 
ducts the  lesson  and  the  pupils  strike  in  here  and 
there  with  wonderful  success,  but  with  little,  if  any, 
real  thought  on  their  own  part.    In  the  language  of 


FIRST  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS  27 

the  psychologist,  children  are  eminently  suggest- 
ible. One  of  the  tasks  of  education  is  to  break  down 
this  suggestibility,  and  throw  the  children  on  their 
own  intellectual  resources.    This  question  then  is  a 

question  to  test  suggestibility.    Ena  M said  in 

answer  to  this  question,  '*Yes — dripping."  Other 
answers  given  by  3-year-old  children  were,  *'Only 
a  spoon;"  ^^A  big  pie;"  *'Yes,  Bird's  custard;" 
^'Yes,  milk"  (this  child  in  the  second  interrogatory 
said  stoutly  ^^No");  ^^Yes,  the  dish;"  **Yes,  a 
knife;"  ^^Yes,  she  had"  (this  child  corrected  herself 
the  week  after,  and  said  *^No,  only  the  pudding") ; 
*  ^  Yes,  a  loaf ; "  ^  ^  A  knife, ' '  Not  a  single  child  resisted 
the  suggestion  at  first;  two  of  them  repeated  what 
they  said  before,  namely,  ^  ^  A  big  pie ' '  and  '  *  A  loaf ; ' ' 
perhaps  they  did  not  understand  what  was  meant  by 
that  part  of  the  question  which  ran  *^  besides  the 
thing  you  have  told  me  about, ' '  and  just  told  us  what 
they  had  told  us  before  about  what  the  lady  was 
holding. 

An  interesting  point  is  that,  a  week  after,  when 
they  were  questioned  again,  the  suggestion  did  not 
operate  with  two  of  them,  for  they  rejected  it; 
though  all  the  rest  repeated  in  identical  words  just 
what  they  had  said  the  week  before.  There  is  a  strik- 
ing difference  in  the  way  in  which  older  and  more 
intelligent  children  respond  to  questions  like  this, 
as  will  be  seen  more  fully  later  on. 

Question  5.  What  clothes  was  the  lady  wearing? 
We  decided  to  accept  as  right  answers  any  which 
included  the  frock  and  pinafore  or  apron;  thus 
'  *  frock  and  apron, "  or  ^  *  skirt,  blouse,  and  pinafore, ' ' 
or  '* skirt,  bodice,  and  apron"  would  all  be  accepted 


28  CHILDKEN^S   PEKCEPTIONS 

as  correct.  No  3-year-old  child  gave  a  correct  an- 
swer the  first  week,  though  some  did  the  second  week. 
Three  of  these  children  repeated  the  word  ^clothes' 
for  both  the  first  and  second  time  of  asking,  and  got 
no  further.  The  mental  operation  due  to  the  subse- 
quent questions  of  the  first  week  may  have  pro- 
duced the  improvement  found  on  the  second  occa- 
sion. 

Question  6.  What  sort  of  a  hat  had  she?  This  is 
another  question  to  test  suggestibility;  since  the 
lady  was  not  wearing  a  hat.  Hats  of  various  colors 
were  ascribed  to  her,  white  hats,  dark  hats,  black 
hats,  blue  hats  and  red  hats.  One  child  gave  no  an- 
swer the  first  week  and  said  ^^ Nothing"  the  second 
week ;  and  three  children,  after  giving  the  lady  a  hat 
the  first  week,  gave  no  answer  the  second  week.  It 
looks  very  much  as  if  there  were  some  factor  in  the 
original  impression  which,  so  to  speak,  had  more 
durability  than  the  thought  which  was  the  effect  of 
the  suggestion,  for  the  children  were  not  told  they 
were  wrong.  To  those  adults  who  think  these  chil- 
dren are  lying  or  are  stupid  I  suggest  using  the  pic- 
ture with  one  or  two  of  their  grown-up  friends. 
They  will,  if  I  mistake  not,  obtain  more  than  one 
description  of  the  lady's  hat. 

Question  7.  What  was  the  lady  wearing  on  her 
feet?  ^Boots'  or  ^shoes'  or  ^slippers'  were  all  ac- 
cepted as  correct  answers;  one  cannot  really  tell 
from  the  picture  which  they  are;  though  she  is  ob- 
viously wearing  one  of  the  three.  But  her  feet  are 
not  clearly  visible,  and  so  the  next  question  is  about 
them. 

Question  8.    Could  you  see  her  feet?   This  is  some- 


FIRST  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS  29 

what  of  the  nature  of  a  suggestive  question ;  but  as 
the  answer  *^Yes''  is  the  correct  answer  and  the 
child  may  have  seen  them,  we  shall  not  include  this 
when  we  are  working  out  a  table  of  suggestibility. 

Question  9.  Had  she  a  pinafore  or  an  apron  on? 
This  is  a  similar  question  to  Number  8.  It  is  sug- 
gestive, and  the  suggested  answer  is  the  right  one. 
Only  one  3-year-old  child  said  ^^No,''  and  she  ad- 
hered to  it  on  both  occasions. 

Question  10.  Had  she  a  frock  on?  This  question 
is  similar  to  Questions  8  and  9.  All  the  3-year-old 
children  answered  correctly.  It  is  a  suggestive  ques- 
tion; but  the  suggestion  may  have  awakened  and 
strengthened  a  fading  memory;  we  cannot  be  sure 
that  it  wholly  produced  the  answer;  consequently 
we  accepted  *yes'  as  correct. 

Questions  11,  12,  13,  14,  15.  All  these  are  color 
questions ;  there  is  nothing  in  the  form  of  the  ques- 
tion to  suggest  the  answer.  We  ask  for  the  color  of 
the  top  part  of  the  lady's  frock,  of  her  skirt,  of  her 
apron  or  pinafore,  of  her  boots,  or  shoes,  and  of  her 
hair.  *  Brown'  and  ^dark  brown'  were  accepted  as 
correct  answers  about  the  lady's  hair.  Of  course  it 
was  unusual  for  the  child  to  see  a  lady  wearing  a 
*red'  apron.  '^The  novelty  would  strike  them,"  I 
can  hear  one  of  my  readers  exclaim.  Well,  it  did 
not  appear  to;  both  color  perceptions  and  color 
names  with  children  of  this  age  are  very  unreliable 

from  an  adult  point  of  view.    Ena  M 's  answers 

are  obsessed  by  ^ green.'  This,  however,  is  not  the 
most  usual  color  name  for  very  young  children  to 
apply  so  freely.  ^ White,'  ^ black,'  'red'  and  'blue' 
are  much  more  commonly  used;  though  the  word 


30  CHILDREN'S   PERCEPTIONS 

'dark'  occurs  now  and  then  also.  We  shall  prob- 
ably find,  whatever  emotional  effect  colors  may  have 
upon  children  of  this  age,  that,  intellectually,  as  iden- 
tified and  named  elements,  they  occupy  a  very  low 
place.  This  will  very  clearly  be  seen  when  we  study 
the  tables  which  give  the  analyzed  results  for  all  the 
3-year-old  children.  Let  us  now  turn  to  questions 
about  the  boy. 

Question  16.  What  was  the  boy  doing?  Every 
child  has  told  us  that  there  was  a  boy  in  the  picture, 
so  that  the  observation  of  the  presence  of  the  boy 
might  be  taken  for  granted.  But  what  was  he  doing? 
A  considerable  variety  in  the  answer  might  accom- 
pany a  correct  observation.  The  3-year-old  children 
gave  such  answers  as  ^^Had  some  cake,"  *^ Eating 
his  pie,"  ^^ Eating  a  piece  of  pudding,"  ^'Eating  a 
cake"  (this  was  said  three  times),  *' Eating  a  pud- 
ding, "  *  ^  Eating  a  piece  of  bread, "  *  ^  Drinking  milk. ' ' 
One  child  said,  at  her  first  interrogatory,  that  he 
was  reading;  and  one  child  gave  ^* Nothing"  for  her 
first  answer ;  but  both  these  children  gave  an  accept- 
able answer  a  week  afterwards.  Actions,  though 
there  is  less  tendency  with  young  children  to  make 
a  spontaneous  report  about  them  than  to  enumerate 
persons  and  things,  are  still  among  the  earlier  phases 
of  mental  experience  which  are  perceived  and  named. 
It  is  noticeable  that  only  one  3-year-old  child  said 
*^ Sitting  down"  in  answer  to  this  question,  and 
these  words  were  given  in  addition  to  an  allusion  to 
the  boy's  eating  activities.  The  selective  interest  in 
eating  is  not,  be  it  said,  confined  to  schools  in  poor 
neighborhoods. 

Question  17.    How  was  he  holding  what  he  had  in 


FIRST  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS  31 

his  hand?  **In  his  hand"  was  not  accepted  as  a  cor- 
rect answer  to  this  question ;  the  child  was  required 
to  show  by  holding  his  own  hand  in  a  similar  posi- 
tion, how  the  boy  was  holding  the  cake.  This  is  a 
position  question  of  great  difficulty,  and  correct  an- 
swers were  very,  very  rare  even  among  the  boys  and 
girls  in  senior  schools.  Let  anyone  who  is  skeptical 
as  to  the  difficulty  try  a  few  intelligent  adults  with 
the  question.  The  interest  attaching  to  it  lies  just 
here.  It  is  sometimes  said  that  children  notice  de- 
tails very  minutely;  but  details  of  position  must  de- 
cidedly be  excluded  from  the  details  which  they  no- 
tice. They  do  not  report  them  and  do  not  answer 
correctly  when  questioned  about  them. 

Question  18.  Where  were  the  boy's  feet?  This  is 
another  position  question.  The  picture  in  this  case 
lays  a  trap  for  the  non-observant,  for  it  is  not  good 
family  etiquette  for  little  boys  in  Germany  to  put 
their  feet  on  the  rungs  of  chairs,  especially  when 
they  are,  so  to  speak,  officially  receiving  breakfast. 
Nor  for  that  matter  is  it  in  England.  Yet  the  un- 
usual position  of  the  boy's  feet  does  not  impress 
these  children.  **0n  the  floor"  was  the  favorite  an- 
swer: ^^ Under  the  table"  was  another.  Only  one 
3-year-old  boy  was  marked  for  a  correct  observa- 
tion. He  said  *^0n  the  big  stick  under  the  chair" — 
a  most  unusual  answer  for  so  young  a  child.  This 
question,  however,  unlike  the  one  requiring  the  posi- 
tion of  the  boy's  hands,  was  answered  very  much 
better  by  the  older  boys  and  girls.  We  can  conceive, 
with  big  children,  an  influence  from  previous  per- 
sonal objurgation  inducing  a  more  perceptive  atti- 
tude on  the  matter ;  but  3-year-old  children  could  not 


32  CHILDBEN^S   PERCEPTIONS 

get  their  legs  on  the  rungs  of  eliairs  in  that  way,  even 
if  they  tried.  The  children  are  not  giving  us  observ- 
ations ;  they  are  falling  back  on  what  they  know  to  be 
customary.  But  they  do  not  know  that  they  are  not 
giving  us  observations,  and  that  knowledge  is  just 
what  we  want  them  to  have.  One  boy,  much  older, 
said  ^^On  his  legs;"  but  he  was,  I  think,  evading  the 
question. 

Question  19.  What  clothes  was  the  boy  wearing? 
In  consultation  with  the  teachers  who  were  helping 
me  with  this  experiment,  I  decided  to  allow  any  an- 
swer as  indicating  a  correct  observation  which  gave 
either  *coat,'  ^jacket'  or  ^blouse'  with  either 
trousers'  or  ^knickers.'  I  am  aware  that  'blouse' 
and  'coat'  may  seem  far  asunder  to  adult  minds; 
but  after  careful  consideration  we  decided  that  they 
were  not  thus  clearly  differentiated  in  the  minds  of 

the  little  ones.     In  Ena  M 's  first  report  she 

alludes  to  trousers  only.  Albert  M said,  laconic- 
ally, ''Things"  for  his  first  answer,  and  "Clothes" 
for  his  second.  One  boy  said  "He  was  dressed  up 
like  a  girl."  It  is  doubtful  whether  this  answer 
was  due  to  the  variegated  nature  of  the  boy's  cloth- 
ing, for  this  child  had  one  color  name  only,  and  an- 
swered "white"  to  every  color-question  that  was 
given  him;  but  it  might  have  been.  One  girl  said 
"black  clothes."  Children  who  gave  him  a  hat  or 
waistcoat  as  well  as  a  coat  and  trousers  were  not 
regarded  as  correct;  the  mention  or  omission  of 
shoes  and  stockings  was  considered  irrelevant. 

Questions  20,  21,  22,  23,  24.  What  color  was  the 
boy's  coat  or  jacket;  trousers  or  knickers;  boots  or 
shoes;  stockings;  and  hair?    There  is  no  difficulty  as 


FIRST  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS  33 

to  the  answers  which  ought  to  be  given  to  these  ques- 
tions, except  with  reference  to  the  boy's  hair.  The 
following  answers  about  the  color  of  his  hair  were 
accepted  as  correct:  golden;  yellow;  brown;  light 
brown ;  ginger.  The  3-year-old  children  did  not  give 
all  these  answers.  Ena  M ,  as  we  saw  when  read- 
ing the  dossier  relating  to  her  work,  said,  '* green." 
Other  answers  were  ^ black'  (three  times),  'blue' 
(twice),  'dark,'  'white'  (twice),  'red,'  'yellow.'  One 
could  not  be  convinced  that  any  child  had  made  a 
correct  perception  of  the  boy's  hair;  but  a  mark  for 
correct  observation  was  given  to  the  child  who  said 
"Yellow." 

The  remaining  color-questions  about  the  boy's 
clothing,  except  the  one  relating  to  his  boots  or 
shoes,  are  not  at  all  likely  to  be  answered  correctly 
except  on  the  basis  of  correct  observation.  Boys, 
neither  in  Germany  nor  England,  wear  bright-green 
jackets,  bright-red  trousers,  and  blue  stockings.  The 
defective  color-sense,  and  still  more,  the  defective 
color  terminology  of  very  young  children,  would  lead 
us  to  expect  very  few  correct  answers ;  and  the  accu- 
racy of  the  actual  answers  falls  below  even  that  lim- 
ited expectation.  For  these  young  children  do  not 
seem  to  have  noticed  even  the  'red'  trousers  which 
we  might  reasonably  have  supposed  they  would  have 
perceived  and  named.  Only  one  child  gave  'red'  for 
the  color  of  the  trousers,  and  only  one  gave  'green' 
for  the  color  of  the  jacket ;  and  both  of  these  answers 
may  quite  well  have  been  guesses.  The  answers 
were,  however,  accepted  as  correct  observations. 
There  were  five  3-year-old  children  who  said  the 
boy's  shoes  were  black,  and  adhered  to  that  answer. 


34  CHILDEEN^S   PERCEPTIONS 

In  all  probability  this  high  percentage  of  correct  an- 
swers arose  from  the  children's  knowledge  that  boots 
were  black  and  not  from  their  recent  observation  of 
the  picture.  Other  answers  were  'wides,'  but  in 
every  case  color  names  of  some  kind  were  given  as 
answers.  His  stockings  were  given  as  *  black' 
(twice),  *  brown, '^  green,'  *  white'  (twice),  and  only 
three  times  as  ^blue;'  and  one  of  these  answers  of 
^blue'  comes  from  a  child  whose  only  color  name  is 
*blue;'  she  answers  ^^blue"  to  every  color  question 
she  is  asked.  It  is  clear  that,  if  children  at  this  age 
delight  in  colored  pictures,  it  is  not  because  they  are 
keen  on  the  identification  and  discrimination  of  the 
colors  as  adults  know  them ;  nor  have  they  acquired 
what,  from  our  adult  standpoint,  is  a  satisfactory 
color  terminology  by  means  of  which  to  express 
their  perceptions. 

Question  25.  What  sort  of  hoots  had  the  hoy? 
This  is  another  question  to  test  suggestibility.  The 
boy  was  obviously  not  wearing  boots;  but  young 
children,  even  if  they  notice  the  distinction  between 
boots  and  shoes,  are  ready  to  accept  the  implied  sug- 
gestion that  the  boy  had  boots  on.  One  child  said 
** Sunday  boots;"  one  said  ^*A  pair  of  boots;"  but 
the  majority  gave  a  color  name.  None  of  these  chil- 
dren rejected  the  suggestion.  As  I  have  said  before, 
striking  differences  will  be  found  to  occur  with  older 
and  abler  children  in  answer  to  questions  of  this 
kind. 

Question  26.  What  sort  of  shoes  had  the  hoy? 
Similar  answers  were  given  to  those  for  the  pre- 
ceding question.  One  girl,  however,  having  told  us 
that  the  boy's  boots  were  'dark,'  repudiated  'shoes' 


FIRST  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS  35 

altogether,  and  answered:  ^*He  ain't  got  no  shoes, 
he  ain't."  This  was  her  first  answer;  the  second 
week  she  would  not  answer  at  all  when  the  question 
about  the  shoes  was  repeated;  though  she  repeated 
her  first  week's  answer  of  *  Mark"  when  asked  about 
the  boots. 

Question  27.  Did  you  see  (my thing  under  the  boy's 
chair?  A  reference  to  the  picture  will  show  that 
there  is  something  under  the  boy's  chair — a  jug  or 
vase,  to  wit ;  and  it  is  a  very  unusual  place  for  such  a 
thing  to  be.  Four  3-year-old  children  said  **No;" 
four  said  '  *  Yes, ' '  and  two  gave  no  answer.  The  an- 
swer ^Yes'  was  accepted  as  correct  unless  the  child 
went  on,  as  it  did  in  three  of  these  affirmations,  to 
say  what  it  was — ^wrongly.  One  said  **Yes,  a 
mouse."  Another  said  *'Yes,  a  bat."  A  third  said 
^*  Yes,  a  spoon."  These  are  not  4ies ;'  the  child  does 
not  intend  to  deceive ;  an  associated  idea  comes  to  his 
mind,  or  rather,  arises  within  his  mind,  with  the 
same  sort  of  feeling  of  reality  as  a  remembered  per- 
ception. I  do  not  assert  that  children  of  three  can- 
not lie ;  that  they  cannot,  with  intent  to  deceive,  assert 
that  which  is  not ;  but  we  must  not  accept  a  solution 
of  this  kind  in  such  cases  as  these.  These  are  not 
cases  of  imagination,  unless  we  are  prepared  to  ac- 
cept the  term  imagination'  for  mental  products 
which  are  purely  matters  of  defective  memory.  A 
spoon,  a  mouse,  a  cricket  bat ;  what  more  likely  to  be 
under  the  boy's  chair!  They  have  probably  been 
seen  under  chairs  on  several  occasions.  In  these  an- 
swers there  has  not  been  even  a  new  synthesis  of  re- 
membered things,  and  this  at  least  we  should  re- 
quire before  dignifying  the  mental  product  with  the 


36  CHILDKEN^S   PERCEPTIONS 

term  imagination.'  There  appears  to  be  a  mental 
stage  which  is,  as  it  were,  a  sort  of  complex  which 
is  neither  memory,  as  we  know  it,  nor  imagination, 
as  we  know  it ;  it  is  that  mental  condition  from  which 
memory  and  imagination  are  differentiated  and 
from  which  each  emerges  as  such.  To  throw  the 
child  upon  his  own  resources  in  observation  of  this 
kind  and  to  endeavor  to  secure  a  self-correction  of 
his  errors  are  some  of  the  means  of  helping  forward 
this  process  of  mental  differentiation.  There  is  no 
way  by  which  the  teacher  can  do  this  for  the  child. 

Question  28.  Did  you  see  a  jug  or  a  vase?  This 
question  is  of  the  nature  of  a  suggestive  question, 
and  the  child  that  succumbs  to  the  suggestion  and  an- 
swers ^^Yes,"  without  having  any  memory  of  hav- 
ing observed  the  ^jug'  or  Wase,'  obtains  a  mark  for 
a  correct  observation.  This  does  not  seem  satisfac- 
tory ;  but,  having  asked  the  question,  I  was  bound  to 
allow  a  mark  for  the  affirmative  answer ;  since  it  was 
always  possible  that  such  an  answer  might  arise 
from  the  memory  (assisted  by  suggestion)  of  an 
actual  perception  of  the  thing,  and  not  merely  from 
the  suggestive  influence  of  the  question.  At  present 
it  seems  to  me  that  such  questions  should  be  avoided 
in  subsequent  interrogation  for  Aussage  purposes. 
Two  3-year-old  children  said  they  had  not  seen  the 
jug  and  adhered  to  this  on  their  second  interrogation 
a  week  later.  Eight  of  them  answered  ^^Yes,"  both 
on  the  first  and  second  occasion  on  which  they  were 
questioned. 

Question  29.    What  color  was  the  jug?    Only  one 

child,  Ena  M ,  gave  the  color  correctly,  and  she 

used  the  color  name  ^ green'  with  a  lavishness  which 


FIRST  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS  37 

to  lis  adults  seems  quite  reckless — she  had  probably 
not  observed  that  the  jug  was  green.  Other  colors 
given  were  ^ white'  and  'blue' — customary  colors  for 
English  jugs,  which  green  is  not.  We  must  not, 
however,  suppose  that  none  of  the  children  saw  the 
jug  because  they  could  not  remember  the  color ;  any- 
one can  obtain  satisfactory  evidence  in  a  minute  or 
two  that  children  (and  adults)  can  and  do  observe 
things  whose  colors  they  have  neither  remembered 
nor  perceived. 

Question  30.  Was  there  anything  on  the  floor 
near  the  jug,  and  if  so,  what  was  it?  This  question 
has  reference  to  the  school-boy's  satchel  which,  as 
has  been  pointed  out  previously,  was  in  a  form  to 
which  English  school-children  were  quite  unaccus- 
tomed. They  did  not  know  what  it  was,  and  it  is 
interesting  to  see  that  this  lack  of  knowledge  prob- 
ably caused  the  thing  to  be  passed  over  and  neg- 
lected. One  3-year-old  said  ''a  sugar-basin"  the 
first  week  and  '^ nothing"  the  second  week.  The 
first  answer  is  evidently  the  result  of  an  associa- 
tion between  'jug'  and  'basin.'  The  association 
does  not  reappear  the  second  week;  the  child  then 
answers  "nothing."  Both  answers  are  wrong;  that 
is,  neither  receives  a  mark  on  our  system  of  mark- 
ing; but  the  second  answer,  from  the  standpoint  of 
fidelity  of  report,  is  obviously  a  better  answer  than 
the  first.  A  second  child  said  "beer"  the  first  week, 
and  gave  no  answer  the  second  week — another  asso- 
ciated error  which  the  interval  between  the  two  in- 
terrogations appeared  to  correct.  A  third  child 
gave  no  answer  on  both  occasions.  A  fourth  child 
gave  "a  man  and  a  bat"  the  first  week  and  "a  boy" 


38  CHILDREN'S   PERCEPTIONS 

the  second  week.  A  fifth  child  said  **a  thing"  and 
gave  the  same  answer  the  second  week ;  this  was  ac- 
cepted as  a  correct  observation ;  it  was  made  by  the 
ablest  of  this  group  of  3-year-old  children.  A  sixth 
child  said,  ^ ^shoes''  the  first  week  and  **a  chair"  the 
second  week;  both  of  these  were  doubtless  observed 
objects,  but  neither,  as  children  express  themselves, 
could  be  said  to  be  on  the  floor  as  well  as  near  the 
jug.  A  seventh  child  said  *  ^nothing"  to  both  inter- 
rogations, and  ejaculated  her  answer  with  decision; 
she  was  one  of  the  ablest  of  the  group.  Another  child 
answered  *' nothing"  and  adhered  to  that  answer  the 
second  week. 

Question  31.  What  color  was  the  table?  This 
question  appears  as  if  ^shot  out  of  a  pistol;'  but  it 
must  be  remembered  that,  with  scarcely  an  excep- 
tion, the  children  had  noticed  and  reported  upon  the 
table,  and  that  the  interrogatory  followed  imme- 
diately upon  their  report.  ^Yellow,'  *  brown,'  and 
*  cream'  were  accepted  as  correct  answers.  As  was 
usual  where  colors  were  concerned,  the  answers  of 
the  3-year-old  children  were  mostly  ^wides;'  color - 
names  were  given  in  answer  to  the  question,  but  very 
rarely  correct  ones.  ^Blue'  and  ^ green'  figured  as 
well  as  ^ white;'  as  indeed,  in  one  instance,  did  ^red.' 
In  no  single  case  among  the  3-year-old  children  was 
a  mark  obtained  for  a  correct  answer ;  though  I  was 
sorely  tempted  to  give  a  mark  to  a  little  boy  who 
said  '^I  don't  know;"  his  answer  from  the  stand- 
point of  faithful  reporting  was  probably  the  best. 
He  knew  that  he  did  not  know;  the  others  had  not 
advanced  as  far  as  that. 

Question  32.    What  else  was  on  the  table  besides 


FIBST  SEBIES  OF  EXPEEIMENTS  39 

what  the  lady  was  holding?  This  question  suggests 
that  something  was  there,  but  does  not  give  a  clue 
to  the  answer.  One  boy  succumbed  to  the  association 
aroused  and  said  *' Bread  and  butter  and  tea." 
He  repeated  his  answer  in  exactly  the  same  words 
a  week  later.  A  second  gave  no  answer  the  first  time 
and  said  ^^ nothing"  the  second  time.  A  third  child 
succumbed  to  an  associative  error  and  said  ** butter" 
on  both  occasions.  A  fourth  said  '^ nothing"  the 
first  time,  and  repeated  the  same  answer  a  week 
later.  A  fifth  said  **cups  and  saucers"  the  first 
time,  but  answered  correctly  ^*a  knife"  a  week  later. 
This  may  have  been  due  to  the  working  of  the  sug- 
gestive question  which  followed  this  one  on  the 
first  interrogation,  namely,  ^'Did  you  see  a  knife?" 
A  sixth  child  gave  no  answer  on  either  occasion.  A 
seventh  said  *  ^  only  a  loaf"  and  repeated  the  same  an- 
swer a  week  later.  An  eighth  gave  no  answer  the 
first  week,  but  at  the  second  interrogation  answered : 
^ '  a  tea-pot. ' '  A  ninth  child  answered : '  ^  butter ' '  and 
'* dripping"  at  the  first  and  second  interrogations, 
respectively.  And  the  tenth  said  ^'milk"  the  first 
week,  and  added  to  her  answer  the  second  week  by 
saying  ^^milk  and  sugar." 

Question  33.  Bid  you  see  a  knife?  This  is  rather 
an  unsatisfactory  question,  since  an  affirmative  an- 
swer must  needs  receive  a  mark  as  a  correct  obser- 
vation ;  for  such  an  answer  may  have  been  the  result 
of  an  actual  perception.  On  the  other  hand  very 
suggestible  children  will  readily  answer  ^'yes."  In 
fact,  every  one  of  the  ten  3-year-old  children  an- 
swered ''yes"  to  this  question,  both  on  their  first 
and  second  interrogation. 


40  children's  perceptions 

Question  34.  Whereabouts  on  the  table  was  the 
knife?  It  might  be  thought  that  this  question  and 
the  next,  What  color  was  it?  would  afford  us  a 
means  of  judging  whether  the  answer  to  Question  33 
was  a  guess  due  to  suggestion  or  an  actual  observa- 
tion; but  a  moment's  reflection  will  remind  us  that 
children  most  certainly  do  observe  things  without 
noticing  their  positions  or  colors,  a  consideration 
which  prevents  us  from  accepting  their  answers  on 
these  points  as  a  sufficient  criterion  of  the  reliability 
of  an  affirmative  answer  to  Question  33. 

This  is  another  'position'  question,  and,  as  usual 
with  young  and  mentally  undeveloped  children,  was 
very  badly  answered.  One  said  the  knife  was  in  the 
lady's  hand  and  adhered  to  that  answer.  Five  of 
them  showed  a  position  on  the  actual  table  before 
which  they  were  standing,  but  their  answers,  though 
given  with  no  lack  of  confidence,  were  'wides.'  Two 
children  gave  no  answer  or  said  they  did  not  know. 
Two  only  obtained  marks  for  correct  observation; 
one  of  these  said  ' 'Against  the  boy  in  the  picture,'' 
and  the  other  said  ''Just  by  the  side  of  him."  With 
older  children  who  gave  their  answers  in  descriptive 
words  the  following  answers  were  accepted  as  cor- 
rect: "In  the  middle  of  the  table  near  the  edge;" 
' '  By  the  edge  of  the  table ; "  "  By  the  boy ; "  "  Nearly 
falling  off  the  table." 

Question  35.  What  color  was  the  knife?  By  this 
question  was  meant.  What  color  was  the  handle  of 
the  knife? ;  but,  as  the  question  was  badly  expressed, 
it  was  necessary  to  allow  "white  and  black,"  or 
"black  handle,"  or  "black,"  or  "brown,"  as  correct 
answers.    It  was  not  a  very  serious  matter  as  far 


FIRST  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS  41 

as  the  3-year-old  children  were  concerned,  for  they 
answered  *^ green/'  ^^blue,"  ^^ black  and  blue,"  and, 
as  usual  in  answer  to  color  questions,  confidently 
ascribed  to  the  object  their  prevailing  color-names. 
Three  children  said  ^ black'  and  were  credited  with 
marks.  Their  knives  at  home  may  have  been  black- 
handled;  but  these  observation  experiments  cannot 
exclude  the  influence  of  previous  knowledge ;  and  if 
this  knowledge  is  sometimes  helpful,  it  is  also  some- 
times misleading. 

Question  36,  Did  you  see  a  floiver-pot?  This  is 
another  rather  unsatisfactory  question,  for  a  sug- 
gestible child  can  once  more  score  a  mark  even 
though  it  neither  saw  nor  remembered  the  flower-pot. 
Of  course,  we  cannot  be  sure  that  a  child  who  an- 
swered ^^Yes''  may  not  have  seen  and  remembered 
the  flower-pot;  and  to  some  who  had  seen  but  had 
forgotten  it,  the  word  ^flower-pot'  would  serve  to  re- 
vive the  memory.  Every  3-year-old  child  in  this 
group  answered  *^yes"  to  this  question  in  both  the 
first  and  second  interrogations. 

Question  37.  Where  was  the  flower-pot?  This 
was  another  ^position'  question.  Only  four  of  the 
3-year-old  children  gave  a  correct  answer  at  the  first 
interrogatory,  though  the  number  was  increased  to 
seven  at  the  second  interrogatory.  ^*0n  a  box," 
^  *  On  a  stool, "  ^  ^  On  the  cupboard, ' '  were  accepted  as 
correct,  whilst  with  older  children  *^0n  a  trunk"  and 
' '  On  a  packing-case ' '  were  also  accepted.  It  might 
be  objected  that  'stooP  is  not  a  legitimate  identifica- 
tion of  box,  but  that  objection  hardly  touches  the 
position  of  the  flower-pot  in  relation  to  the  thing  it 
was  standing  on.   One  child  who  said ' '  On  the  table" 


42  childben's  perceptions 

the  first  week,  and  was  marked  wrong,  said  ' '  Stand- 
ing on  a  thing"  the  next  week,  and  was  marked  right. 
Another  child  who  said  '*0n  the  floor"  the  first  time, 
answered  correctly  the  second  time,  ^^On  a  box." 
One  child  said  ** Under  the  table"  on  both  occasions. 
Two  others  said  ^^On  the  table"  on  both  occasions. 
Another  pointed  wrongly  to  a  part  of  the  room  in 
which  she  was  being  questioned,  but,  a  week  later, 
answered  correctly,  ^^On  a  box."  Older  children 
showed  much  superiority  in  answering  this  question. 

Question  38.  What  color  were  the  flowersf  I  ex- 
pected rather  a  large  number  of  correct  answers 
to  this  question,  even  from  the  3-year-old  children, 
for  'red'  is  one  of  the  earliest  of  children's  color - 
names,  and  one  of  the  earliest  color  sensations  to  be 
discriminated.  But  only  three  of  the  ten  children  of 
this  age  answered  the  question  correctly.  Those  who 
were  right  gave  the  same  answer  on  both  occasions. 
Two  children  gave  *' white"  on  both  interrogations. 
Five  others  gave  ''blue"  and  adhered  to  it  a  week 
later.  It  is  hard  to  believe  that  there  is  anything 
here  but  sheer  guess-work  application  of  the  color- 
names  of  flowers  known  to  the  children,  without  any 
present  observational  factor  at  all.  Four-year-old 
children  are  much  better,  and  in  no  single  case  of 
5-,  6-,  or  7-year-old  children  is  there  an  error.  Again 
there  seems  an  indication  that,  whatever  interest 
very  young  children  may  have  in  colors,  it  is  not  one 
which  leads  to  correct  identification  and  remem- 
brance. 

Question  39.  How  many  flowers  were  there?  This 
is  an  extremely  hard  question  for  very  young  children, 
as,  indeed,  'number'  questions  always  are.    It  is  true 


FIBST  SEBIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS  43 

that  many  of  the  children  could  have  answered  cor- 
rectly if  they  had  been  told  to  count  how  many 
flowers  there  were  there,  but  the  experiment  aims  at 
finding  out  the  spontaneous  observations  of  children, 
and  very  few  indeed  noted  definitely  the  number  of 
the  flowers,  even  though  it  was  a  small  number, 
namely,  three.  There  seemed  litle  growth  of  this 
power  until  6  years  of  age,  and  even  at  7  years  of 
age  the  answers  were  mostly  incorrect.  Of  the  3- 
year-old  children,  four  answered  **A  lot,"  and  ad- 
hered to  it.  One  said  ^^Only  one  flower''  the  first 
week,  but  advanced  to  '^A  lot"  the  second  week. 
Another  said  ^'them"  (showing  two  fingers),  and  a 
week  later  ^^them"  (showing  four  fingers).  An- 
other said  ^^ three"  the  first  week  and  ^^four"  the 
second  week.  Another  said  ^Hhree"  the  first  week 
and  ^^two"  the  second  week;  another  '^one"  the  first 
week  and  ^^two"  a  week  later.  The  other  answers 
were  correct.  In  this  school  there  was  no  advance 
in  accuracy  from  the  first  week  to  the  second ;  there 
was  a  slight — a  very  slight— movement  in  the  op- 
posite direction. 

Question  40.  What  color  were  the  leaves?  All 
but  one  of  the  5-year-old  children  answered  correctly 
on  both  interrogations,  and  most  of  the  4-year-old 
children.  But  only  two  of  the  3-year-old  children 
gave  correct  answers.  The  older  children  know  that 
^^ leaves  are  green;"  the  answer,  therefore,  may  not 
have  been  the  result  of  a  remembered  perception, 
but  the  distribution  of  correct  answers  among  the 
children  of  various  ages  is  almost  identical  with  that 
of  the  correct  answers  for  the  colors  of  the  flowers, 
and  flowers   are   certainly  not  known   to  be  red. 


44  childeen's  pekceptions 

Among  the  3-year-old  children  it  would  hardly  be 
safe  to  conclude  that  any  of  them  perceived  and  re- 
membered the  color  of  the  leaves,  for  the  application 
of  the  color-names  possessed  by  these  children  might 
give  us  ^ green'  twice  as  a  matter  of  chance  merely. 
Other  color  names  given  by  this  group  were  'blue' 
(four  times),  'red'  (twice),  'white'  and  'brown.' 

Question  41.  How  many  leaves  were  there?  This 
is  another  number  question,  a  much  more  difficult 
one  than  that  about  the  number  of  the  flowers.  None 
of  these  children  in  this  infant  school  gave  a  correct 
answer.  It  may  be  said,  and  said  truly,  that  these 
children  do  not  want  to  know  the  number  of  the 
leaves  for  any  purpose  whatever,  and,  therefore, 
they  are  not  likely  to  notice  it.  But  every  observer 
of  young  children  must  have  noticed  that  they  often 
count  and  enumerate  as  a  matter  of  play,  that  is,  as 
a  satisfying  occupation  for  its  own  sake.  However 
this  may  be,  the  numerical  interest  as  such  was 
found  to  be  very  small  in  these  children.  Answers 
given  by  the  3-year-old  children  were  'one,'  'two,' 
'three,'  'four,'  'five'  and  'a  lot.'  'A  lot'  was  much 
the  predominating  answer — a  very  good  answer  for 
these  young  children;  but  it  was  not  marked  cor- 
rect, for  one  of  the  objects  of  the  experiment  was 
to  see  how  far  the  spontaneous  tendency  to  correct 
enumeration  was  evident  in  children  of  various  ages. 
No  infant-school  child  in  this  or  in  the  other  infant 
school  in  which  the  experiment  was  made  gave  a 
correct  answer.  It  might  be  argued  that  they  would 
have  done  so,  had  more  time  been  given  for  looking 
at  the  picture ;  but  we  are  entitled  to  infer  that  they 
appear  to  possess  very  little  interest,  as  compared 


FIBST  SEEIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS  45 

with  that  shown  in  other  things,  in  the  question  of 
exact  enumeration. 

Question  42.  What  color  was  the  flower-pot? 
This  question  should  have  been  placed  with  Num- 
bers 36  and  37,  which  also  dealt  with  the  flower-pot. 
The  flower-pot  in  the  picture  was  a  darkish-red,  and 
a  few  older  children  answered  ^^ brown,''  an  answer 
which  was  accepted  as  correct.  The  4-,  5-,  and  6- 
year-old  children  were  almost  all  correct,  but  the 
3-year-old  children  gave  only  two  correct  answers, 
those  given  on  the  first  and.  second  interrogations 
being,  for  all  these  children,  precisely  the  same.  Of 
the  3-year-old  children,  two  said  *^ black;"  two  said 
'^ white;"  three  said  *^blue;"  one  said  ^^ green." 
The  two  correct  answers  look  like  a  chance  applica- 
tion of  well-known  color-names. 

Question  43.  What  color  was  the  box  or  cupboard? 
The  box  was  painted  a  light  brownish-yellow,  so  that 
it  was  necessary  to  accept  either  ^ brown'  or  ^yellow' 
as  an  answer  to  the  question,  and,  with  older  chil- 
dren, a  few  answers  of  ^ cream'  were  accepted  as  cor- 
rect. Five-,  six-,  and  seven-year-old  children  an- 
swered very  well ;  but  3-year-old  children  and  4-year- 
old  children  were  quite  at  sea.  'Yellow'  and  'brown' 
are  color  names  which  are  late  in  development; 
'yellow'  especially  is  a  hard  word  for  young  chil- 
dren to  learn  to  say.  But  is  there  any  evidence  that 
they  noticed  the  color  of  the  box  at  all?  The  3-year- 
old  children  in  this  school  gave  'dark,'  'blue'  (three 
times),  'white'  (twice),  'black'  (twice),  and 'green;' 
one  child  gave  no  answer.  Each  child  repeated,  a 
week  later,  the  same  answer  as  at  the  first  interro- 
gation. 


46  children's  perceptions 

Question  44.  What  did  you  see  through  the  open 
window?  This  is  a  question  to  test  suggestibility. 
In  this  form  a  suggestive  question  is  very  difficult 
to  answer  correctly,  for  the  implication  of  the  exist- 
ence of  the  window  is  very  strong.  The  word  'open' 
adds  to  the  difficulty,  for  there  was  an  open  door  in 
the  picture,  though  there  was  no  window.  The  child 
was  considered  to  have  resisted  the  suggestion  if  the 
answer  were  given  *' There  was  no  window,"  or 
*' Nothing,"  or  even  if  the  child  persisted  in  giving 
no  answer  to  the  question.  No  3-year-old  child  re- 
sisted the  suggestion,  though  more  than  half  of  the 
4-year-old  children  did  so.  The  answers  of  the 
youngest  group  are  instructive  and  amusing.  One 
said  *'a  cat"  the  first  time  and  ''a  dog"  the  second 
time;  another  said  '^ flowers"  on  both  occasions;  a 
third  said  '*a  cat"  on  both  occasions;  a  fourth  said 
** curtains"  twice;  a  fifth  said  ''blue"  the  first  time 
and  "all  blue"  the  second  time  (she  was  not  think- 
ing of  the  appearance  through  the  open  door,  as  I 
thought  at  first,  for  she  called  that  "white"  in  an- 
swer to  the  next  question);  a  sixth  said  "a  lady" 
and  adhered  to  that  answer;  a  seventh  said  "a 
flower;"  an  eighth  said  "a  boy"  the  first  week  and 
"a  pussy"  the  second  week;  a  ninth  said  "nobody," 
but,  in  answer  to  another  question,  asserted  that  he 
had  seen  a  window ;  the  tenth  child  gave  no  answer, 
but  also  asserted  that  he  had  seen  a  window.  None 
of  these  children,  therefore,  were  considered  as  hav- 
ing resisted  the  suggestion  of  the  'window.' 

Question  46.  Did  you  see  a  window?  This  was 
another  question  to  test  suggestibility.  It  is  in  a 
different  form  from  that  of  Question  44,  and  one 


FIRST  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS  47 

that,  with  older  children,  would  be  less  likely  to  mis- 
lead ;  the  implication  of  the  existence  of  the  window 
is  certainly  not  so  strong.  But  little  children,  and 
some  older  ones,  are  anxious  to  gain  credit  for  hav- 
ing seen  things,  even  when  they  may  clearly  remem- 
ber that  they  have  not  seen  them.  Yet  it  is  not  ne- 
cessary to  adopt  an  hypothesis  of  conscious  deceit. 
For,  with  little  ones  at  least,  the  suggested  idea  of 
a  window  and  a  memory  idea  of  a  window  are  not 
discriminated,  as  they  are  with  older  and  more  in- 
telligent children.  Every  3-year-old  child  an- 
swered in  the  affirmative. 

Question  45.  What  did  you  see  through  the  open 
doorf  This  is  another  question  to  test  suggestibil- 
ity; for,  though  there  was  an  open  door,  there  was 
nothing  to  be  seen  through  it  unless  we  accept  'the 
sky,'  or  ^blue,'  or  'white'  as  correct  answers,  as  well 
as  'nothing.'  Let  us  accept  these  answers  as  indicat- 
ing a  memory  of  an  actual  perception,  and  regard 
all  other  answers  as  indicating  a  failure  to  resist  the 
suggestion.  Until  6  years  of  age,  the  majority  of  the 
children  failed  to  answer  correctly.  The  3-year-old 
children,  as  in  the  case  of  Question  44,  gave  both 
instructive  and  amusing  answers.  One  said 
"houses"  the  first  week  and  "horses  and  carts"  the 
second  week;  a  second  said  "a  lady"  (twice) ;  a  third 
said  "a  flower-pot"  the  first  week,  but  gave  no  an- 
swer the  second  week.  There  is  again  an  indication 
here,  both  in  the  variation  in  the  answers  from  the 
first  to  the  second  week — an  unusual  thing — and  in 
the  frequent  rejection  of  an  erroneous  suggestion  the 
second  week,  after  it  had  been  accepted  the  week  be- 
fore, that  there  is  an  element  of  permanency  about 


48  CHILDREN'S   PERCEPTIONS 

the  answers  having  some  recent  sensational  basis 
which  is  lacking  to  the  merely  suggested  idea.  If  this 
turns  out  to  be  true,  its  importance  for  the  science 
of  evidence  and  the  proper  time  for  receiving  testi- 
mony is  considerable.  A  fourth  child  said  ' '  nobody ' ' 
and  ^ ^nothing";  a  fifth  gave  no  answer  on  either  in- 
terrogation; a  sixth  said  ^* white''  (twice) ;  a  seventh 
said ' '  a  knocker"  (twice) ;  an  eighth  said  ' '  a  daddy" ; 
a  ninth  said  *^ nothing"  the  first  time  and  succumbed 
the  second  time  in  answering  ^^ flowers" — a  reverse 
operation  to  the  usual  process;  the  tenth  said  '*a 
windmill"  the  first  week  and  a  week  later  *^a  lady." 
It  would  be  a  valuable  investigation,  if  the  data  were 
sufficiently  extensive  for  the  children  of  each  age,  to 
summarize  in  classes  the  kind  of  associative  errors 
which  are  made.  All  the  errors  of  these  three-year- 
old  children  seem  to  be  easily  traceable  to  previous 
experience,  either  of  actual  things  or  pictures  of 
them. 

Question  47.  What  color  were  the  walls  of  the 
room?  The  color  of  the  walls,  as  may  be  seen  by 
reference  to  the  picture,  is  a  greyish  slatey  blue ;  it 
was  necessary,  therefore,  to  accept  'blue,'  'dark- 
blue,'  'grey,'  or  'slate-color'  as  correct  answers. 
Not,  of  course,  that  these  3-year-old  children  gave 
either  'grey'  or  'slate-color'  for  any  of  their  an- 
swers; these  refinements  of  color  terminology  do 
not  arise,  except  with  older  children.  Of  the  3-year- 
old  children  in  this  school,  one  said  "dark;"  two 
said  "black;"  three  said  "blue,"  two  said  "white;" 
one  said  "green";  and  one  said  "brown."  It  is 
very  doubtful  whether  there  is  much  reliability  to  be 
placed  upon  these  results  as  indications  of  actual 


FIRST  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS  49 

observation  and  memory  of  definite  color ;  the  darlc- 
ness  of  the  walls  may  have  been  perceived  and  re- 
membered ;  there  is  some  indication  that  it  has  been, 
but  beyond  that  there  is  little  to  be  said.  All  the  in- 
fant-school children  in  this  school  and,  to  a  less  ex- 
tent, those  of  another  school  whose  results  will  be 
given  later,  show  little  or  no  power  of  observation, 
or,  at  least,  of  description,  when  dealing  with  mixed 
and  nondescript  colors  of  this  kind. 

Question  48.  What  color  was  the  carpet?  This 
was  intended  as  a  suggestive  question,  implying  the 
presence  of  a  carpet.  There  is  no  carpet  on  the 
floor,  and  if  any  child  answered  ^* There  isn't  a  car- 
pet, ' '  the  answer  was  accepted  as  correct.  But  it  is 
doubtful  whether  children  could  be  expected  not  to 
give  the  color  of  the  floor — a  brownish-yellow — as 
the  color  of  the  carpet.  On  this  consideration,  the 
question  was  classed  also  among  the  color-ques- 
tions. Scarcely  any  3-  or  4-year-old  children  in 
either  infant  school  gave  an  answer  which  could  be 
considered  correct  as  to  color.  *  Yellow'  is  one  of 
the  latest  of  color-names  (I  am  not  speaking  now  of 
intermediate  colors)  to  develop,  and  ^brown'  is  also 
late  in  development ;  we  should  therefore  expect  that 
a  brownish-yellow  would  fail  of  identification  and 
description,  as,  indeed,  it  appeared  to  do. 

Question  49.  Did  you  see  a  carpet?  More  than 
half  of  the  6  and  7-year-old  children  in  both  infant 
schools  resisted  the  suggestion  and  said  they  did 
not  see  a  carpet ;  but  all  the  3-year-old  children  suc- 
cumbed, and  nearly  all  those  of  4  years  of  age  also. 

Question  50.  What  room  was  it?  To  this  ques- 
tion there  was  an  unusual  number  of  correct  an- 


50  childken's  pekceptions 

swers.  At  the  first  interrogation,  five  of  the  ten  3- 
year-old  children  gave  correct  answers  and  this 
number  increased  to  8  at  the  second  interroga- 
tion ;  nearly  all  the  4-,  5-,  6-  and  7-year-old  children 
in  both  infant  schools  gave  correct  answers  and  ad- 
hered to  them.  The  almost  invariable  answer  was 
^^the  kitchen;"  but  a  few  children  who  said  ^*a  back 
room"  were  regarded  as  having  given  an  answer 
which,  on  the  basis  of  their  experience,  might  be  re- 
garded as  correct. 

8  elf -Correction  of  Three-Y  ear-Old  Children. 

Though  the  procedure  for  self-correction  was 
carefully  gone  through  with  every  child,  no  one  of 
3  years  of  age  succeeded  in  getting  a  single  mark 
under  this  head. 

TABLE  I. 

SUMMAEIZED  RESULTS  FROM  THE  WORK  OF  ThBEE-YeAR-OlD 

Children,  School  A. 

u  u 

o  o  ^ 

cs  ^  o 

a                     .           5P  .          W)  --2 

^^«^      Zt       «s    -s    Is    P     .1 

Name.  Yrs.  Mths.  ^-g  ijg-       ^^        %^      %^       -sS 

Elsie   A 3  5  Grade  I*  7  13  12  13  0 

Alfred   W 3  6  Grade  I  8  9  12  12  0 

Ivy    S 3  6  Grade  I  10  15  12  19  0 

Albert   M 3  7  Grade  I  9  14  8  17  0 

Rose  H 3  7  Grade  I  7  11  9  14  0 

Claras 3  8  Grade  I  12  16  16  18  0 

Robert   H 3  8  Grade  I  10  17  13  21  0 

Ena   M 3  10  Grade  I  6  12  8  14  0 

Harry  H 3  10  Grade  1  9  10  10  11  0 

Daisy   1 3  11  Grade  I  5  15  9  19  0 

Average 3          7.8                                 8.3  13.2  10.9  15.8       0 

Mean  variation                                                      1.7  2.2  2.1  3.0 
Coefficient  of 

variabiUty....                                                        .20  .17  .19  .18 

♦Grade  I  in  London  is  an  infants'-school  grading.  It  consists 
mostly  of  3-year-old  and  4-year-old  children. 


FIEST  SERIES  OP  EXPERIMENTS  51 

Comments  on  the  Results  of  Table  I. 

The  first  outstanding  result  is  one  which  was  a 
source  of  considerable  surprise  to  the  highly  ex- 
perienced teachers  to  whom  I  lectured  in  London  on 
this  subject  in  the  winter  of  1910.  Most  of  the 
teachers  were  inclined  to  the  opinion  that,  after  a 
week's  time,  the  3-year-old  children  would  have  for- 
gotten all  about  it,  for  they  had  not  seen  the  picture 
again,  nor  had  any  references  been  made  to  it  in 
school  in  the  interval  between  the  first  and  second 
reports.  But,  as  will  be  seen  from  the  table,  that 
was  by  no  means  the  case.  In  all  cases,  except  one, 
the  Second  Eeport  is  better  than  the  First  Eeport, 
and  in  every  case  except  one  the  Second  Interroga- 
tory is  better  than  the  First  Interrogatory.  I  at- 
tribute this  result,  partly  to  the  direct  demand 
which  the  work  made  on  the  child's  own  activities — 
it  was  not  something  merely  pumped  in  by  the 
teacher — and  partly  to  the  questioning  which  fol- 
lowed the  first  report.  It  was  also  a  source  of  sur- 
prise to  the  teachers  that  these  children  so  often 
repeated  on  the  second  occasion,  in  both  their  spon- 
taneous reports  and  in  their  answers  to  the  ques- 
tions, the  very  words  they  used  on  the  first  occa- 
sion. A  little  reflection,  however,  on  the  poorness 
of  the  vocabulary  of  such  young  children  made  this 
feature  seem  reasonable  rather  than  surprising. 
The  incapacity  for  self-correction  seemed  general. 

II.    The  Work  of  the  Four- Year-Old  Children  op 
School  A. 
I  do  not  wish  unduly  to  swell  this  monograph  by 
giving  illustrations   from  the  work  of  individual 


52  CHILDREN'S   PERCEPTIONS 

children.  The  tables  and  summaries  of  results  for 
the  children  of  different  ages  and  school  grades  by 
whom  the  work  was  done  are  doubtless  of  much 
more  importance  both  for  knowledge  and  guidance ; 
but  without  a  living  basis  in  the  knowledge  of  indi- 
vidual cases,  such  summaries  have  an  aspect  of 
vagueness  and  unreality  which  teachers  dislike,  and, 
I  think,  rightly  so.  I  propose,  therefore,  before  giv- 
ing a  summary  of  the  work  of  the  4-year-old  chil- 
dren in  this  school,  to  give  one  complete  set  of  re- 
ports and  answers  from  the  work  of  the  pupils  in 

this  group.    Phyllis  P ,  aged  4  years  9  months, 

one  of  the  best  of  the  4-year-old  pupils,  gave  her 
First  Spontaneous  Eeport  at  3  p.  m.  on  November 
25th,  1909. 

Phyllis  P 's  First  Spontaneous  Report. 

^^I  saiv  a  lady  and  I  saw  a  man.  She  had  a  basin. 
The  man  was  drinking  something.  The  man  was 
sitting  on  a  chair.  There  was  a  basin  underneath 
the  chair  and  there  was  something  else  against  it, 
and  there  was  something  in  the  basin  on  the  table. 
I  think  it  was  porridge.  There  was  some  flowers] 
behind  the  lady  and  they  was  in  a  pot,  some  roots 
growing  down  and  a  little  flower  came  up.  The  pot 
was  in  a  tin  saucer.    I  donH  know  anything  else.'' 

Marking  of  Phyllis  P 's  First  Spontaneous 

Report. 

The  method  of  marking  this  report  was,  of  course, 
similar  to  that  employed  in  the  case  of  the  work  of 
the  3-year-old  children,  since,  later  on,  comparisons 
will  be  required  between  the  work  of  children  of 
different  ages. 


FIRST  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS  53 

It  is  obvious  that,  by  virtue  of  a  mere  enumera- 
tion of  persons  and  things,  Phyllis  P scores  9 

or  10  marks.  She  enumerates  ^lady,'  ^man'  (it  is 
doubtful  whether  this  identification  should  carry  a 
mark),  *  basin'  (two  separate  things,  one  the  hemis- 
pherical loaf,  the  other  the  jug  under  the  chair), 
^ chair,'  ^something'  (the  satchel),  ^ table,'  ^flowers,' 
^pot,'  saucer.' 

Two  actions  are  noticed — the  man  is  ^drinking' 
and  ^sitting.'  There  are  several  positional  refer- 
ences :  the  man  is  ^on'  the  chair;  the  basin  is  'under- 
neath' the  chair;  something  (the  satchel)  is 
'against'  the  chair;  one  of  the  basins  (the  hemis- 
pherical bread)  is  'on'  the  table;  the  flowers  are  'be- 
hind' the  lady  and  'in'  a  pot;  a  flower  is  coming 
'up',  and  the  pot  is  'in'  a  saucer. 

A  mark  is  given  for  the  qualification  'little'  at- 
tached to  'flower.' 

If  this  analysis  has  been  made  correctly,  Phyllis 
obtains  20  or  21  marks  for  correct  observations. 

For  the  purpose  of  easy  comparison,  I  shall  now 
present  her  second  report,  though  it  must  be  re- 
membered that  in  actuality  it  followed  her  first  in- 
terrogation and  was  not  given  until  just  one  week 
afterwards.  It  is  dated  3  p.  m.  on  December  2nd, 
1909. 

Phyllis  P 's  Second  Spontaneous  Report. 

^^ There's  a  lady,  she  has  a  basin  with  some  por- 
ridge in  it.  And  there's  a  man.  The  man  has  a 
saucer  with  a  drop  of  tea  in  it.  He  was  sitting  on  a 
chair.  There's  a  flower  with  some  roses  in  it. 
There's  a  jug  underneath  the  man's   chair,  and 


54  CHILDREN'S   PERCEPTIONS 

there's  some  water  in  the  jug.  There  is  something 
else  on  the  floor,  and  it  looked  like  a  saucepan. 
There's  a  table  and  there  was  a  knife  on  the  table. 
The  room  had  green  paper  round  it,  and  the  door 
was  a  little  wide  open.    I  don't  know  any  more." 

Marking  of  Phyllis  P 's  Second  Spontaneous 

Report. 

In  her  second  report,  Phyllis  P enumerates 

'lady/  *  basin'  (the  hemispherical  loaf),  'man,' 
saucer  (accepted  as  an  identification  of  what  the 
boy  is  holding),  'chair,'  'flower'  (by  which  she 
means  plant),  'roses,'  'jug,'  'something  else'  (the 
satchel),  'floor,'  'table,'  'knife,'  'room,'  'paper'  and 
'door'  (14  or  15  marks).  Two  things  have  dropped 
out,  the  flower-pot  and  its  saucer ;  four  things  have 
been  added,  the  room,  the  paper,  the  knife  and  the 
door.  The  flower-pot,  the  room,  the  knife,  and  the 
door  were  all  mentioned  in  the  first  interrogatory, 
but  the  saucer  in  which  the  flower-pot  stood  was  not. 

One  action  is  noticed — the  man  is  '  sitting. '  Again 
the  positional  references  are  numerous  for  a  child 
of  four  years  of  age  The  man  is  'on'  the  chair;  the 
roses  are  'in'  the  flower  (plant) ;  the  jug  is  'under- 
neath' the  chair;  something  else  (the  satchel)  is  'on' 
the  floor;  the  knife  is  'on'  the  table;  the  room  has 
paper  'round'  it;  and  the  door  is  'open.' 

A  mark  for  'little  wide'  is  given  as  a  qualification 
of  'open.'  A  total  of  22  or  23  marks  is  thus  ob- 
tained for  the  second  report. 

I  will  now  give  the  first  and  second  set  of  answers 
of  the  same  child,  each  immediately  following  a  re- 
port, and  the  second  exactly  a  week  later  than  the 
first. 


FIRST  SERIES  OP  EXPERIMENTS 


55 


Phyllis  P 's  First  and  Second  Sets  of  Answers  Given  on 

November  25th  and  December  2nd,  Respectively,  at  3.5  P.  M. 

First  Set  of  Second  Set  of 

Questions.  Answers.  Answers. 

1.  Which  side  of  the  table    This  side    (showed   Over  there    (show- 

was    the    lady    stand-        wrongly).  ed  wrongly). 

ing? 

2.  What  was  she  doing?  She  wus  holding  the    She  was  holding  the 

porridge.  hasin. 

3.  How  was  the  lady  hold-   Like   this    (showed  Like  that    (showed 

ing   what    she    had    in        wrongly).  wrongly). 

her  hand? 

4.  Had    the   lady    anything   No.  Nothing  else  in  her 

else  in  her  hand  beside  hand. 

the     thing     you     have 
told  me  about? 

5.  What    clothes    was    the    A    skirt    and   a  A  skirt,  a  blouse,  a 

lady  wearing?  blouse,  some       brooch,   some 

stockings  and 
some  shoes  and  a 
nighty. 

6.  What  sort  of  a  hat  had   No  hat. 

she? 

7.  What    wag    she    wearing  Black  shoes. 

on  her  feet? 

8.  Could  you  see  her  feet?   Yes. 

9.  Had   she   a   pinafore   or   An  apron. 

apron  on? 

10.  Had  she  a  frock  on?         Yes. 

11.  What     color     was     her   Red. 

blouse  or  the  top  part 
of  her  frock? 

12.  What     color     was     her  Black. 

skirt? 

13.  What     color     was     her   She^s   got   a   white   It  was  a  blue  apron, 

apron  or  pinafore?  apron. 

14.  What     color     were     her   Black.  Black. 

boots  or  shoes? 

15.  What  color  was  her  hair?   Black.  Black. 

16.  What    was    the    boy    do-   Ifs    a    man.      He   Ifs    a    man.      He 

ing?                                          was      drinking  was    drinking    a 

something,  a  drop  drop  of  tea, 
of  tea. 

17.  How     was     he     holding    (Showed  wrongly.)  (Showed  wrongly.) 

what    he    had    in    his 
hand? 

18.  Where    were    the    boy's    On  top  of  one  an-   On  the  floor. 

feet?  other     (crossed 

her  feet  on  the 
floor). 


shoes  and  stock- 
ings. 

No  hat. 

Black  shoes. 

Yes. 

No,     she     had     an 

apron  on. 
Yes. 
White. 


Black. 


56 


CHILDKEN^S   PERCEPTIONS 


Questions. 

19'.  What    clothes    was    the 
boy  wearing? 

20.  What  color  was  the  boy's 

coat  or  jacket? 

21.  What     color     were     the 

boy's  trousers  or  knick- 
ers? 

22.  What     color     were     the 

boy's  boots  or  shoes? 

23.  What     color     were     the 

boy's  stockings? 

24.  What  color  was  his  hair? 

25.  What  sort  of  boots  had 

he? 

26.  What  sort  of  shoes  had 

he? 

27.  Did     you     see    anything 

under  the  boy's  chair? 

28.  Did    you    see    a   jug    or 

vase? 

29.  What  color  was  the  jug 

or  vase? 

30.  Did  you  see  anything  on 

the  floor  near  the  jug 
or  vase? 

31.  What     color     was     the 

table? 

32.  What    else   was   on    the 

table  beside  the  thing 
the  lady  was  holding? 

33.  Did  you  see  a  knife? 

34.  Whereabouts  on  the  ta- 

ble was  it? 

35.  What     color     was     the 

knife? 


36.  Did    you    see    a    flower- 

pot? 

37.  Where  was  it? 


38.  What     color     were     the 

flowers? 

39.  How  many  flowers  were 

there? 

40.  What     color     were     the 

leaves? 


First  Set  of 
Answers. 


Second  Set  op 
Answers. 


The  man  was  dress-   The  man  was  dress- 
ed up.  ed  up. 
Black.                          Black. 


Black. 

Black. 
Black. 


Black. 

Black. 
Black. 


Black.  Black. 

They    were    like  Black. 

black. 

He  had  some  slip-  He  had  hoots. 

pers. 

Yes,  a  pot.  Yes,  a  jug. 


No,  a  pot. 

Yes. 

Red. 

Green. 

Nothing. 

Nothing. 

Black.  Brown. 

Cups  and  saucers.     Only  a  knife. 


No.  Yes. 

There  was  no  hnifei    ( Showed  wrongly. ) 


No  knife. 


Yes. 


The  bottom  of  it 
was  yellow  and 
the  top  of  it  wa9 
white. 

Yes. 


On    a    tin    saucer,  Standing     on     the 

and  on  the  floor,  floor. 

and  on  the  box. 

Red.  Red. 


One. 
Qreen, 


Two. 
Green. 


FIRST  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS  57 

First  Set  of  Second  Set  of 

Questions.  Answers.  Answers. 

41.  How   many   leaves   were   Two,  Two, 

there? 

42.  What     color     was     the   Red.  Red. 

flower-pot? 

43.  What  color  was  the  box?   It  was  a  tin  saucer.   Yellow. 
4A.  What     could      you     see   Nothing.  Nothing. 

through  the  open  win- 
dow? 

45.  What     could     you     see   The     door     wasn't  The     door     wasn't 

through  the  open  door?       open,     only  the       open,     only     the 
window.  window. 

46.  Did  you  see  a  window?      Yes.  Yes. 

47.  What     color     were     the    Green.  Green. 

walls  of  the  room  ? 

48.  What  color  was  the  car-   Black.  Blaok. 

pet? 

49.  Did  you  see  a  carpet?         Yes.  Yes. 

50.  What  room  was  it?  The  kitchen   room.   The  kitchen  room. 

I  suggest  that  with  these  questions  and  an- 
swers before  him,  the  reader  turns  to  the  discussion 
on  page  23,  in  which  an  attempt  is  made  to  give  a 
satisfactory  basis  for  marking  the  answers  right  or 
wrong.  Then,  on  the  lines  indicated  in  that  discus- 
sion, I  ask  him,  with  the  picture  by  his  side,  to  mark 
the  answers  for  himself. 

Phyllis  P obviously  fails  to  answer  Question 

I,  succeeds  with  Question  2,  fails  with  the  second 
positional  question.  Number  3,  successfully  resists 
the  suggestion  in  Number  4,  omits  the  apron  or 
pinafore  in  Answer  Number  5,  again  resists  sug- 
gestion in  Question  6,  gives  correct  answers  to 
Numbers  7,  8,  9  and  10,  fails  to  answer  correctly  as 
to  the  colors  of  blouse,  skirt  and  apron  (Numbers 

II,  12  and  13),  probably  guesses  the  answer  to 
Number  14,  and  is  quite  wrong  about  the  color  of 
the  lady's  hair  (Number  15).    In  Answer  16,  Phyl- 


58  CHILDKEN^S   PEKCEPTIONS 

lis,  who  has  reported  *man,'  will  not  accept  the 
suggestion  that  it  was  a  *boy'  she  saw.  She  thinks 
the  'man'  is  drinking  tea  from  a  saucer,  and  this  is 
accepted  as  a  legitimate  identification  of  the  ob- 
served activity.  Answer  17  is  wrong,  as  it  almost 
invariably  is  with  children  of  all  ages,  as  is  likewise 
Number  18.  Phyllis  fails  completely  with  the  boy's 
clothes,  though  she  scores  a  mark  for  saying  his 
shoes  were  black  (Questions  19,  20,  21,  22  and  23). 
She  is  quite  wrong  as  to  the  color  of  his  hair  (Num- 
ber 24),  and  fails  to  resist  the  suggestion  that  he 
was  wearing  boots  (Number  25).  She  receives  a 
mark  for  describing  his  shoes  as  slippers  in  An- 
swer 26  in  her  first  interrogation,  but  goes  back  to 
boots  the  week  after.  Marks  are  given  for  both 
weeks'  answers  to  Questions  27  and  28;  it  was 
thought  that  *pot'  was  a  fair  identification  of  the  jar 
under  the  boy's  chair.  Answer  29  was  wrong  the 
first  week  and  right  the  second  week.  Answer  30 
fails  to  obtain  a  mark.  'Brown'  is  accepted  as  cor- 
rect for  the  color  of  the  table,  but  'black'  is  not 
(Question  31).  The  answer  "cups  and  saucers," 
given  to  Question  32,  is  an  error  of  association,  but 
a  week  later  the  correct  answer  is  given.  Similarly, 
to  Question  33,  the  first  answer  is  wrong,  the  second 
one  right.  The  positional  question.  Number  34,  is, 
as  usual,  answered  badly.  Neither  of  the  answers 
to  Question  35  receive  a  mark ;  it  was  not  a  yellow- 
handled  knife.  The  first  week's  answers  about  the 
knife  are  interesting  as  showing  a  rejection  of  sug- 
gestion as  well  as  a  lack  of  observation  or  memory ; 
the  second  week's  answers  may  have  been  due  to 
mnemonic  revival  or  may  have  been  a  delayed  re- 


FIRST  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS  59 

suit  of  the  suggestive  questions  given  the  week  be- 
fore, or  may  have  been  due  to  a  combination  of  these 
factors.  Questions  about  the  flower  and  flower-pot 
were  well  answered,  but  the  numbers  of  the  flowers 
and  leaves  were  wrongly  given  (Questions  36,  37,  38, 
39,  40,  41,  42).  Question  43  was  evidently  misun- 
derstood on  the  occasion  of  the  first  interrogatory, 
but  a  satisfactory  answer  was  given  the  week  after. 
The  answer  to  Question  44  appears  to  be  correct; 
nothing  could  be  seen  through  the  open  window,  for 
there  was  no  window  there.  In  the  next  answer 
(Number  45),  however,  the  child  shows  that  she  has 
not  wholly  resisted  the  suggestiveness  of  this  ques- 
tion, for  she  has  accepted  the  implied  presence  of 
the  window.  The  answers  to  Qestions  46,  47,  48  and 
49  receive  no  marks;  the  answer  to  Question  50  is 
obviously  correct  from  the  standpoint  of  an  English 
child. 

If  this  analysis  of  Phyllis  P 's   answers  be 

correct,  it  will  be  found  that  she  obtains  19  marks 
the  first  week  and  23  marks  a  week  later. 

Phyllis  P 's  Self -Correction. 

The  self-correction  followed  immediately  after 
her  second  interrogation.  She  said,  after  she  had 
looked  at  the  picture,  '^I  didn't  see  a  tin  saucer.  I 
did  not  see  any  water.  The  paper  was  blue.  There 
wasn't  any  cups  and  saucers." 

Method  of  Marking  Phyllis  P 's  Self -Correction. 

In  marking  the  exercises  in  self-correction,  it  was 
necessary  to  see  if  the  statements  made  were  really 
corrections  of  something  wrongly  stated  before, 
either  in  answer  to  the  questions  or  in  the  reports. 


60  CHILDREN'S   PERCEPTIONS 

And  if  there  was  an  insertion  of  something  left  out 
in  the  reports,  it  was  allowed  as  a  correction,  pro- 
vided that  the  child  indicated  in  some  way  that  she 
was  mvare  that  she  had  left  it  ont. 

If  Phyllis  P 's  self-corrections  are  marked  on 

this  basis,  she  obtains  4  marks  for  4  definite  correc- 
tions of  previous  errors. 

It  will  probably  be  sufficient  to  enable  the  reader 
adequately  to  conceive  the  w^ork  of  these  4-year-old 
children  if  I  now  give  the  general  table  of  results. 

TABLE  II. 

Summarized  Results  from  the  Work  of  FouR-YEAB-OLt) 
Children,  School  A. 


>» 


t? 


a  s}  6 

--^^^     :§•       .«    .2   |t    |2    J 

Name.  Yrs.  Mths.  S|  ^g.        £|       8§        ||       sg 

Rose    D 4  3  Grade  lib*  16  22  19  28  0 

Hetty  D 4  6  Grade  Ila  10  30  19  28  1 

Frank  G 4  8  Grade  lib  17  19  19  22  0 

Rose   C 4  9  Grade  lib  12  15  12  15  3 

Phyllis  P 4  9  Grade  Ila  20  19  22  23  4 

William   W 4  10  Grade  Ila  12  24  22  28  5 

Arthur    R 4  11  Grade  lib  13  23  14  23  0 

Arthur   B 4  11  Grade  lib  14  19  14  20  8 

Henry  B 4  11  Grade  Ila  18  23  24  31  6 

Charles  M 4  11  Grade  Ila  19  22  29  24  6 

Average 4  8.9  15.1  21.6  19.4  24.2  3.2 

Mean  variation  2.9  2.9  3.8  3.6  2.4 
Coefficient  of 
variability....                                                        .19         .13         .19         .15       .8 

♦Grade  II  in  London  is  an  infants'-school  grading.  It  consists 
mostly  of  children  who  will  be  five  or  five  and  a  half  at  the  end  of 
the  educational  year.     Ila  is  the  upper  and  lib  is  the  lower  division. 

Comments  on  Table  II. 

Like  the  3-year-old  children,  the  children  of  this 
age  do  better  work  in  their  second  report  than  in 
their  first,  and  in  their  second  interrogatory  than 
in  their  first.    I  offer  the  same  explanations  as  be- 


FIRST  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS  61 

fore.  Self-correction  has  begun;  and,  though  it  is 
working  by  no  means  steadily,  several  of  these  chil- 
dren achieve  a  good  record. 

III.  The  Work  of  the  Five- Year-Old  Children  of 
School  A. 

I  give  one  complete  set  of  reports  and  answers 
from  the  work  of  this  group. 

George  B ,  aged  5  years  7  months,  who  was 

somewhat  above  the  average  of  the  5-year-old  chil- 
dren, gave  his  First  Spontaneous  Report  at  2.30 
p.  m.  on  November  22nd,  1909. 

George  B 's  First  Spontaneous  Report. 

^'There's  a  lady  with  a  blue  pinafore  on,  and  a 
hoy  sitting  up  at  the  table  eating  a  piece  of  cake. 
There's  a  jug  underneath  the  chair.  She's  got  a 
basin  in  her  hand.  She's  got  something  in  it.  She's 
holding  it.  The  knife  is  on  the  table;  it  fell  down 
out  of  her  hand.  The  boy's  got  red  trousers  and  the 
lady's  got  a  red  frock  on  and  brown  boots.  There's 
a  door  open.  There's  a  bag  down  by  the  side  of  the 
jug,  and  there's  a  flower  pot." 

Marking  of  George  B 's  First  Spontaneous 

Report. 

By  the  enumeration  of  persons  and  things,  George 

B scores   16   marks.     He    enumerates   4ady,' 

'pinafore,'  'boy,'  'table,'  'piece  of  cake,'  'jug,' 
'chair,'  'basin,'  'hand,'  'knife,'  'trousers,'  'frock,' 
'boots,'  'door,'  'bag'  and  'flower-pot.' 

Three  actions  are  mentioned — the  boy  is  'sitting' 
and  'eating,'  and  the  lady  is  'holding'  something. 

There  are  several  references  to  positions :  the  boy 


62  CHILDREN'S   PERCEPTIONS 

is  'up  at'  the  table;  the  jug  is  'underneath'  the 
chair;  the  knife  is  'on'  the  table;  the  door  is  'open'; 
and  the  bag  is  'by  the  side'  of  the  jug.  No  mark  is 
given  for  'in'  her  hand,  it  is  regarded  as  equivalent 
to  '  holding, '  which  has  already  been  marked. 

A  mark  is  given  for  the  qualification  'red'  which 
is  rightly  applied  to  trousers;  other  qualifications 
given,  'red'  for  frock,  and  'brown'  for  boots,  receive 
no  marks,  since  they  are  incorrect. 

The  total  of  the  'observation'  marks  for  this  re- 
port is  25. 

Then  followed  the  interrogatory,  which  I  will  give 
later;  and,  precisely  one  week  afterwards,  on  No- 
vember 29th,  at  2.30  p.  m.,  George  B ,  gave  his 

Second  Eeport. 

George  B 's  Second  Spontaneous  Report, 

'^ There's  a  lady  holding  a  black  basin,  and  a  boy 
sitting  up  to  the  table.  The  boy's  holding  a  piece  of 
cake.  The  knife  is  on  the  table.  The  door  is  open. 
There's  a  flower-pot  on  the  stool.  There's  a  jug 
standing  underneath  the  chair,  and  there's  a  bag 
down  by  the  chair.  The  lady's  got  some  cake  in  the 
basin.  She's  standing  on  the  floor.  She's  got  a  blue 
pinafore  and  a  red  frock.  The  boy's  got  red  trou- 
sers and  a  jersey  on.  The  hoy's  got  a  pair  of  stock- 
ings on,  and  the  mother's  got  stockings  on  as  well. 
I  can't  think  of  no  more." 

Marking  of  George  B 's  Second  Spontaneous 

Report. 
Marks  for  enumeration  are  obtained  for  'lady,^ 
'basin,'  'boy,'  'table,'  'piece  of  cake,'  'knife,'  'door,' 
'flowerpot,'  'stool,'  'jug,'  'chair,  'bag,'  'floor,'  'pina- 


FIRST  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS  63 

fore,'  *  frock,'  trousers,'  *  jersey'  and  'pair  of  stock- 
ings,' making  a  total  of  18,  an  improvement  of  two 
over  the  enumerative  jnarks  of  the  preceding  week. 

Four  actions  are  noted:  the  lady  is  'holding'  and 
'standing,'  the  boy  is  'sitting'  and  'holding.' 

The  positional  references  are  more  numerous 
than  before.  The  boy  is  sitting  'up  to'  the  table ;  the 
door  is  '  open, '  the  knife  is  '  on '  the  table ;  the  flower- 
pot is  'on'  the  stool;  the  jug  is  'underneath'  the 
chair;  the  bag  is  'down  by'  the  chair;  the  lady  is 
standing  'on'  the  floor.  It  is  not  considered  worth  a 
positional  mark  to  say,  for  example,  that  the  trou- 
sers are  on  the  boy ;  though  it  would  have  been  had 
the  trousers,  for  example,  been  'in'  his  hands  or 
'round'  his  neck,  had  these  statements  been  correct. 

There  are  also  two  accurate  qualifications.  The 
basin  is  'black';  the  boy's  trousers  are  'red.'  The 
other  qualifications  given  are  inaccurate. 

George    B 's    marks    for    his    second   report 

amount  to  31,  an  improvement  of  six  marks  over 
those  of  the  week  preceding. 

George  B 's  First  and  Second  Sets  of  Answers    Given  on 

November  22nd  and  November  29th,  Respectively, 
AT  2.35  P.  M. 

First  Set  of  Second  Set  of 

Questions.  Answers.  Answers. 

1.  Which  side  of  the  table    That  side   (showed   That  side  where  the 

was    the    lady    stand-        wrongly).  flower-pot   was 

ing?  (showed    right- 

ly)- 

2.  What  was  she  doing?         Cutting  some  cake.   Holding  a  hasin. 

3.  How  was  the  lady  hold-    With  her  two  hands   With  her  two  hands 

ing   what   she    had   in        (showed    wrong-        (showed    wrong- 
her  hands?  ly),  ly). 

4.  Had    the    lady    anything  ^o.  No, 

else  in  her  hand  be- 
side the  thing  you 
have  told  me  about? 


64 


CHILDKEN  S   PERCEPTIONS 


Questions. 

5.  What    clothes    w)as    the 

lady  wearing? 

6.  What  sort  of  a  hat  had 

she? 

7.  What    was    she    wearing 

on  her  feet? 

8.  Could  you  see  her  feet? 

9.  Had   she   a   pinafore   or 

apron  on? 

10.  Had  she  a  frock  on? 

11.  What     color     was     her 

blouse  or  the  top  part 
of  her  frock? 

12.  What     color     was     her 

skirt? 

13.  What     color     was     her 

apron  or  pinafore? 

14.  What     color     were     her 

boots  or  shoes? 

15.  What  color  was  her  hair? 

16.  What   was   the    boy    do- 

ing? 

17.  How  was  he  holding  it? 


First  Set  of 
Answers. 

A  hlue  pinafore  and 

red  frock. 
A  little  one. 

Boots. 

Yes. 
Yes. 

Yes. 
Red. 


Second  Set  of 

Answers. 

A  "blue  pinafore  and 

a  red  frock. 
A  whitish  color. 

Boots, 

Yes, 
Yes, 

Yes, 
Red. 


Red. 
Blue. 

Brown   leather 

color. 
White. 
Sitting  on  a  chair 

holding  a  piece  of 

cake. 
( Showed  wrongly. ) 


18.  Where    were    the    boy's    Underneath  the  ta- 

feet?  Ue. 

19.  What-  clothes    was    the  Red  trousers^  a  jer- 

boy  wearing?  sey,  hrown  stock- 

ings and  shoes. 


20.  What  color  was  the  boy's  Brown. 

jersey  ? 

21.  What     color     were     the   Red. 

boy's  trousers? 

22.  What     color     were     the  Brown. 

boy's  shoes? 

23.  What     color     were     the   Black, 

boy's  stockings? 

24.  What  color  was  his  hair  ?   Brown. 

25.  What  sort  of  boots  had  He  had  shoes. 

he? 

26.  What  sort  of  shoes  had  Brown. 

he? 


Red, 
Blue, 
Brownish  color. 

Whitish  color. 

Sitting  on  a  chair 
holding  a  piece  of 
cake. 

With  his  finger  and 
thumb  {showed 
rightly). 

Underneath  the  ta- 
ble. 

He  put  his  trousers 
on  first.  (What 
was  he  wearing?) 
A  jersey  and  a 
pair  of  red  trous- 
ers. I  can*t  think 
of  any  more. 

Black. 

Red, 

Brown, 

Black, 

Brown. 
Brownish  color. 

He  had  boots. 


FIBST  SEBIES  OF  EXPEBIMENTS 


65 


First  Set  of 

Second  Set  of 

Questions. 

Answers. 

Answers. 

27. 

Did    you    see    anything 

Ye«,  a  jug. 

YeSy  a  jug. 

under  the  boy's  chair? 

28. 

Did  you  see  a  jug? 

Yes. 

Yes. 

29. 

What  color  was  it? 

A  green  jug. 

A  blue  jug. 

30. 

Did  you  see  anything  on 
the  floor  near  the  jug, 
and  if  you   did,   what 
was  it? 

A  hag. 

A  school-bag. 

31. 

What  color  was  the  ta- 

Brown. 

The  tablecloth  wa9 

ble? 

brown. 

32. 

What    else    was    on    the 
table  beside   what  the 
lady  was  holding? 

The  knife. 

The  knife. 

33. 

Did  you  see  a  knife? 

Yes. 

Yes. 

34. 

Whereabouts  on   the  ta- 
ble was  it? 

{Showed   rightly.) 

(Showed   rightly.) 

35. 

What     color     was     the 

The     handle     was 

The     handle     wa* 

knife? 

hrown;  the  other 

browny    and    the 

part  was  white. 

piece  that  you  cut 
with   was   whit€. 

36. 

Did    you    see    a    flower- 
pot? 

Yes. 

Yes. 

37. 

Where  was  it? 

On  a  piece  of  the 
high  cupboard. 

On  a  stool. 

38. 

What     color     were     the 
flowers? 

Red. 

Red. 

39. 

How  many  flowers  were 
there? 

Three. 

Three. 

40. 

What     color     were     the 
leaves? 

Green. 

Green. 

41. 

How   many   leaves   were 
there? 

Three. 

Three. 

42. 

What     color     was     the 
flower-pot? 

Brown. 

A  reddish  color. 

43. 

What  color  was  the  cup- 

It   was    a    yellow 

It     was     a     white 

board? 

cupboard. 

stool. 

44. 

What     could     you     see 
through  the  open  win- 
dow? 

Some  leaves. 

Some  'buses. 

45. 

What     could     you     see 
through  the  open  door? 

The  street. 

The  street. 

46. 

Did  you  see  a  window? 

No. 

No. 

47. 

What     color     were     the 
walls  of  the  room? 

Oreen. 

Green. 

48. 

What  color  was  the  car- 
pet? 

Brown. 

Green. 

49. 

Did  you  see  a  carpet? 

Yes. 

Yes. 

50. 

What  room  was  it? 

A  little  room. 

The  kitchen. 

66  CHILDREN'S   PERCEPTIONS 

Marking  of  George  B 's  First  and  Second  Sets 

of  Answers. 

George  B fails  to  answer  Question  1  the  first 

time,  but  succeeds  the  week  afterwards;  succeeds 
on  the  second  occasion  with  Question  2,  fails  as 
usual  with  Question  3,  successfully  resists  the  sug- 
gestion made  in  Question  4,  includes  both  pinafore 
and  frock  in  Question  5  (the  errors  in  color  are  not 
counted  for  this  question,  they  appear  again  later 
on) ;  fails  to  resist  the  suggestion  that  the  lady  was 
wearing  a  hat,  gives  correct  answers  to  Numbers  7, 
8,  9,  10,  fails  to  name  correctly  the  colors  of  blouse, 
skirt  and  apron,  guesses  wrongly  as  to  the  color  of 
the  lady's  boots  or  shoes,  and  is  quite  wrong  as  to 
the  color  of  the  lady's  hair.  In  Answer  16,  George 
is  correct  on  both  occasions;  and  in  Answer  17, 
though  wrong  the  first  week,  is  right  the  second 
week,  a  sequence  which  happened  with  his  first  posi- 
tional question  (Number  1).  He  fails  to  answer 
Question  18  about  the  position  of  the  boy's  feet, 
though  he  rightly  answered  the  more  difficult  posi- 
tional question.  Number  17.  Question  19,  about  the 
boy's  clothes,  is  answered  correctly;  but  the  color 
questions  following  are  badly  answered,  with  the 
exception  of  the  one  about  the  boy's  trousers;  the 
'red  trousers'  appear  in  all  George's  reports  and 
answers.  *  Brown'  is  accepted  for  the  color  of  the 
boy's  hair  (Question  24),  and  the  suggestion  in 
Question  25  is  resisted  the  first  week,  but  succumbed 
to  a  week  afterwards.  *'He  had  shoes,"  said  George 
stoutly,  the  first  week,  but  equally  stoutly,  a  week 
later  says,  ''He  had  boots."    Questions  27,  28,  29, 


FIRST  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS  67 

30,  31,  32,  33,  34,  35,  36,  37  were  all  answered  well, 
though  the  green  jug  fades  to  blue  the  second  week 
and  is  then  wrongly  colored.  The  questions  about 
the  flowers  and  leaves  were  well  answered,  though 
the  leaves  were  not  numbered  rightly,  as  indeed 
might  well  be  expected.  *  Yellow  cupboard'  is  ac- 
cepted for  the  answer  to  Question  43,  but  ^  white 
stoop  is  not.  George  accepts  the  suggestion  that 
things  can  be  seen  through  a  non-existent  window 
and  also  through  the  open  door,  though  he  states  in 
Answer  46  that  he  did  not  see  a  window.  Answer  47 
is  wrong.  The  suggestion  about  the  carpet  is  not 
resisted  (Questions  48  and  49).  'Little  room'  is  ac- 
cepted as  a  correct  answer  to  question  50,  though  the 
more  usual  answer  'kitchen'  is  given  a  week  later. 

George  B is  one  of  the  very  few  cases  among 

young  children  who  scores  less  marks  for  his  second 
set  of  answers  than  for  his  first  set;  he  scores  30  the 
first  week  and  29  the  week  after.  He  improved  in 
two  positional  questions,  but  moved  backward  in 
three  color-questions,  and  failed  the  second  week  to 
resist  the  suggestion  that  the  boy  was  wearing 
boots,  though  he  successfully  resisted  it  the  week 
previous.  His  work  is  fairly  average  work  for  5- 
year-old  children  when  considered  as  a  totality  of 
marks  for  reports  and  answers,  but  it  is  exceptional 
in  falling  off  a  little  the  second  week ;  and  is  also  ex- 
ceptionally accurate  in  the  positional  answer  about 
the  precise  way  the  boy  was  holding  the  cake. 

George  B ^s  Self  Corrections. 

''The  boy's  jacket  tvas  green;  I  said  it  ivas  black. 
There's  a  door.    I  didn't  see  a  window.    The  lady's 


68  CHILDEEN^S   PERCEPTIONS 

apron  ivas  red  and  her  blouse  was  blue  and  so  was 
her  skirt.  Here's  a  bag.  There's  a  lot  of  green 
leaves." 

Marking  of  George  B 's  Self-Corrections. 

George  corrects  his  erroneous  assertion  about  the 
color  of  the  boy's  jacket.  '^I  didn't  see  a  window" 
of  course  received  a  mark,  and  he  obtained  three 
more  marks  for  his  correction  of  the  colors  of  the 
lady's  apron,  blouse  and  skirt.  Though  he  was  ob- 
viously aware  that  he  had  given  the  number  of  the 
leaves  wrongly,  a  Mot'  was  not  held  to  be  definite 
enough  for  self-correction. 

Thus  George's  total  score  for  self-correction  is  5 
marks. 

TABLE  III. 

SUMMAKIZED  RESULTS  FROM  THE  WOBK  OF  PiVE-YEAR-OlD  CHILDREN, 

School  A. 


, Age ^ 

Name.  Yrs.  Mths. 

Beatrice   F 5  6 

George   A 5  7 

Florence   T 5  7 

George  B 5  7 

Alice  J 5  7 

Gertrude  N 5  8 

Edward   M 5  8 

George  P 5  10 

Thomas    P 5  11 

Barbara  H 5  11 

Average 5  8.2 

Mean  variation 
Coefficient  of 
variability....  .29         .17         .19         .16       .89 


t: 

^ 

o 

o 

4-» 

a 

^ 

etf 

o 

^1 

u 

8^ 

53 

SS 

S5 

m^ 

Grade  Ilia 

22 

31 

33 

31 

7 

Grade  llla 

20 

31 

28 

34 

4 

Grade  Illb 

40 

34 

45 

42 

4 

Grade  Illb 

25 

30 

31 

29 

5 

Grade  Illb 

21 

23 

23 

29 

3 

Grade  Ilia 

34 

20 

35 

20 

9 

Grade  Ilia 

20 

22 

23 

24 

3 

Grade  Illb 

11 

22 

30 

25 

1 

Grade  Illb 

38 

25 

46 

25 

3 

Grade  Ilia 

22 

24 

25 

26 

K 

25.3 

26.2 

31.9 

28.5 

4.4 

7.3 

4.4 

6.2 

4.5 

1.7 

♦Grade  III  is  an  infant-school  grading;  it  consists  almost  exclu- 
sively of  children  who  will  be  6  or  somewhat  older  by  the  end  of  the 
educational  year.    Ilia  is  the  upper  division,  Illb  is  the  lower. 


FIRST  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS  69 

Comments  on  Table  III. 
A  great  advance  is  to  be  noticed  in  the  sponta- 
neous reports  of  children  of  this  age,  and  a  steady 
advance,  though  much  smaller,  in  their  power  to  an- 
swer questions  on  what  they  have  seen.  As  in  pre- 
vious years,  the  second  report  is  better  than  the  first 
and  the  second  interrogatory  is  better  than  the  first. 
Every  5-year-old  child  is  capable  of  some  self-cor- 
rections and  several  of  them  make  a  considerable 
number.  I  have,  I  think,  previously  suggested  that 
there  is  no  better  means  than  self-correction  of  this 
kind  for  forcing  into  prominence  the  difference  be- 
tween *  reality'  and  *  fiction,'  though  by  *  fiction'  here 
I  do  not  mean  merely  consciously  imagined  ideas. 

IV.    The  Work  of  the  Six- Year-Old  Children  of 
School  A. 

Following  the  procedure  previously  adopted,  I  in- 
sert one  complete  set  of  reports  and  answers  from 
the  work  of  these  6-year-old  children  before  giving  a 
general  table  of  results  for  children  of  this  age.  On 
this  occasion  I  shall  choose  the  work  of  a  girl  who 
was  one  of  the  oldest  and  also  one  of  the  best  of  this 

group.    Annie  D ,  aged  6  years  11  months,  gave 

her   first    report    on    Thursday,    October    14th,    at 
2.15  p.  m. 

Annie  D 's  First  Spontaneous  Report. 

^^I  could  see  a  little  boy  sitting  on  a  chair,  and  his 
mother  gave  him  a  piece  of  bread.  The  mother  had 
a  basin  in  her  hand,  and  she  had  a  blue  apron  on. 
On  the  floor  there  ivas  a  cushion  and  a  jar,  and  there 
was  a  flower-pot  with  some  flowers  in  it  on  a  box 
and  there  was  a  door.    This  door  was  open  a  little 


70  CHILDREN'S   PERCEPTIONS 

bit.  There  was  some  oilcloth  on  the  floor.  There 
was  a  white  ceiling.  It  was  brown  bread  the  little 
boy  was  eating.  It  was  yellow  oilcloth  on  the  floor. 
There  ivere  four  legs  to  the  table.  The  mother  was 
standing.  There  ivas  a  lamp  and  it  was  in  the  day- 
time. The  mother  had  her  hair  rolled  round  at  the 
bach.'' 

Marking  of  Annie  D 's  First  Report. 

Annie  correctly  enumerates  17  persons  and 
things:  ^boy,'  *  chair,'  ^mother/  *  piece  of  bread,' 
'basin,'  'hand,'  'apron,'  'floor'  'cushion,'  'jar,' 
'flower-pot,'  'flowers,'  'box,'  'door,'  'legs,'  'table' 
and  '  hair. '  She  mentions  three  activities :  the  boy  is 
'sitting'  and  'eating,'  the  mother  is  'standing.' 
There  are  a  number  of  references  to  positions :  the 
boy  is  'on'  the  chair;  the  basin  is  'in'  the  mother's 
hand;  the  cushion  and  jar  are  'on'  the  floor;  the 
flower  is  'in'  the  flower-pot;  the  flower-pot  is  'on'  a 
box;  the  yellow  (oilcloth)  was  'on'  the  floor;  and 
the  mother 's  hair  was  rolled  round  '  at  the  back : '  a 
total  of  seven  positional  references.  And  there  are 
several  adjectival  and  one  or  two  adverbial  qualifi- 
cations: the  door  is  'open'  and,  moreover,  it  is  a 
'little  bit'  open;  the  boy's  bread  is  'brown,'  and  the 
color  on  the  floor  is  'yellow';  the  table  has  'four' 
legs;  and,  a  remarkable  observation  for  a  child  of 
this  age,  the  mother's  hair  is  'rolled  round'  at  the 
back;  a  total  of  6  descriptive  qualifications.  Annie 
therefore  scores  33  marks  for  her  first  report,  which 
is  a  very  high  mark  for  a  child  6  years  old. 

Then  followed  the  first  interrogatory,  but,  for  con- 
venience of  comparison,  I  shall  insert  here  the  sec- 


FIRST  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS  71 

ond  report  given  a  week  later,  on  Thursday,  Oct. 
21st,  at  2.15  p.  m. 

Annie  D 's  Second  Spontaneous  Report. 

^'I  saw  a  flower-pot  ivith  some  flowers  in  it.  It 
was  standing  on  a  box,  and  there  was  a  white  table- 
cloth on  the  table;  and  I  saw  a  little  boy  and  his 
mother  ivas  giving  him  a  piece  of  bread.  The 
mother  had  a  plait  at  the  front  of  her  head.  The 
door  ivas  open  a  little  bit.  The  little  boy  had  black 
hair,  and  his  mother  had  black  hair,  and  she  had  a 
blue  apron  on.  The  little  boy  had  some  black  shoes 
on,  and  he  had  black  stockings.  He  had  short  hair 
and  was  just  going  to  eat  a  piece  of  bread.  He  was 
sitting  on  a  chair.  There  was  a  cushion  on  the  floor 
and  a  jar.  The  door  was  brown.  The  mother  was 
standing  the  right  side,  and  the  little  boy  was  sitting 
the  left  side.    The  walls  were  blue.'' 

Marking  of  Annie  D 's  Second  Report. 

There  are  21  correct  enumerations  of  persons  and 
things:  *  flower-pot,'  'flowers,'  'box,'  'table,'  'boy,' 
'mother,'  'piece  of  bread,'  'head,'  'door,'  'hair'  (the 
mother's  and  the  boy's),  'basin,'  'hand,'  'apron,' 
'shoes,'  'stockings,'  'chair,'  'cushion,'  'floor,'  'jar' 
and  'walls.' 

The  activities  correctly  mentioned  are  the  same 
as  before:  the  mother  is  'standing';  the  boy  is  'sit- 
ting,' and  (a  slight  improvement)  is  'just  going  to 
eat' 

The  positional  references  are  the  same  in  number 
as  before :  the  flowers  are  'in'  the  flower-pot,  the  pot 
is  'on'  a  box;  the  basin  is  'in'  the  lady's  hand;  the 
boy  was  sitting  'on'  a  chair;  a  cushion  and  a  jar 


72 


CHILDKEN  S   PERCEPTIONS 


were  ^on'  the  floor;  the  mother  was  ^on  the  right 
side,'  and  the  boy  was  ^on  the  left  side.'  This  gives 
a  total  of  seven  marks  for  position. 

The  qualitatively  adjectival  and  adverbial  modi- 
fications correctly  used  are  as  follows:  the  door  is 
'open,'  'a  little  bit;'  the  boy's  shoes  are  'black,'  and 
his  hair  is  'short;'  the  door  is  'brown;'  and  the 
walls  are  'blue.'  In  this,  as  in  the  first  report,  there 
is  a  reference  to  the  woman's  hair ;  this  time  it  is  in- 
correct. 

For  the  second  report  as  a  whole,  Annie  D 

scores  37  marks,  an  improvement  of  4  marks  on  the 
work  of  the  week  previous. 


A.NNIE   i> 


s  First  and  Second  Sets  of  Answers  Given  on 
October  14th  and  October  21st  at  2.20  P.  M. 


Questions. 

1.  Which  side  of  the  table 

was    the    lady    stand- 
ing? 

2.  What  was  she  doing? 


3.  How  was  the  lady  hold- 

ing what  she  had  in 
her  hand? 

4.  Had   the    lady    anything 

else  in  her  hand  be- 
side the  thing  you 
have  told  me  about? 

5.  What    clothes    was    the 

lady  wearing? 


6.  What  sort  of  a  hat  had 

she? 

7.  What   was   she   wearing 

on  her  feet? 

8.  Could  you  see  her  feet? 

9.  Had   she   a   pinafore   or 

apron  on? 


First  Set  of 
Answers. 

The  right  side. 


Second  Set  of 
Answers. 

The  right  side. 


Giving   the   hoy         Giving     the     little 
some  tread.  toy    a    piece    of 

tread. 
( Showed  wrongly, )     ( Showed  wrongly, ) 


2^0. 


^0. 


She    had   a    tlouse 

She    had   a    tlouse 

and  a  thie  apron 

and  a  tlue  apron 

and    she    had    a 

and    she    had    a 

skirt  on. 

skirt  on. 

She  had  no  hat. 

She  had  no  hat. 

Black  toots. 

They     were    tlack 

toots. 

Yes. 

Yes, 

Yes, 

Yea, 

FIEST  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS 


73 


Questions. 


FiBST  Set  of 
Answers. 


10. 
11. 

12. 

13. 

14. 

15. 

16. 

17. 

18. 
19. 


20. 

21. 

22. 

23. 

24. 
25. 

26. 

27. 

28. 
29. 
30. 

31. 


Had  she  a  frock  on? 
What     color     was     her 

blouse? 
What  was   the  color  of  Black, 

her  skirt? 
What     color     was     her  Blue, 

apron  ? 
What     color     were 

boots  or  shoes? 
What     color     was 

lady's  hair? 
What   was   the   boy   do-  Eating  some  tread. 

ing? 
How  was  he  holding  it? 


Yes, 
Blue. 


her  Black, 
the   Black, 


Where    were    the    boy's 

feet? 
What    clothes    was    the 

boy  wearing? 


What     color     was     the 

boy's  blouse? 
What     color     were     the 

boy's  trousers? 
What     color     were     the 

boy's  boots  or  shoes? 
What     color     were     his 

stockings? 
What  color  was  his  hair? 
What  sort  of  boots  had 

he? 
What  sort  of  shoes  had 

he? 
Did    you    see    anything 

under  the  boy's  chair? 
Did  you  see  a  jug? 
What  color  was  it? 
Did  you  see  anything  on 

the  floor  near  the  jug, 

and,  if  you  did,  what 

was  it? 
What  color  was  the  ta-   White, 

ble? 


He  was  holding  it 
sideways  ( show- 
ed wrongly). 

On  the  floor. 

He  had  a  hlouse 
and  some  trous- 
ers, some  hoots 
and  some  stock- 
ings. 

Black. 

Black, 

Black, 

Black, 

Black  hair. 
Black   hoots. 

He  had  hoots. 

No, 

Yes. 

Oreen, 

YeSy  a  cushion. 


Second  Set  of 
Answers. 

Te$.  1 

Blue. 

Blue,  i; 

Blue. 

Black, 

Black. 

Eating  a  piece  of 
hread. 

He  was  holding  it 
sideways  {show- 
ed wrongly). 

On  the  floor. 

He  had  a  hlouse 
and  some  trous- 
ers, some  shoes 
and  some  stock- 
ings. 

Black, 

Black, 

Black, 

Black, 

Black  hair. 
Black  hoots. 

He  had  hoots. 

No, 

Tea. 

Oreen, 

YeSf  a  cushion. 


White. 


74 


CHILDEEN  S   PERCEPTIONS 


Questions. 


First  Set  of 
Answers. 


32.  What   else    was    on    the   Sugar, 

table  beside   what  the 
lady  was  holding? 

33.  Did  you  see  a  knife? 

34.  Whereabouts  on  the   ta- 

ble was  it? 

35.  What     color     was     the 

knife? 


Second  Set  of 
Answers. 

A  knife. 


36.  Did    you    see    a    flower- 

pot? 

37.  Where  was  it? 

38.  What     color     were     the 

flowers? 

39.  How  many  flowers  were 

there? 

40.  What     color     were     the 

leaves? 

41.  How  many   leaves   were 

there? 

42.  What     color     was     the 

flower-pot? 

43.  What  color  was  the  box? 

44.  What     could     you     see 

through  the  open  win- 
dow? 

45.  What     could     you     see 

through  the  open  door? 

46.  Did  you  see  a  window? 

47.  What     color    were     the 

walls  of  the  room? 

48.  What  color  was  the  car- 

pet? 

49.  Did  you  see  a  carpet? 

50.  What  room  was  it? 


Yes.  Yes. 

Left   side    {showed  Left   side    (showed 

lorongly ) .  wrongly ) . 

The     handle  was   The     handle     was 

hlack     and  the       black     and     the 

cut    part  was       cut    part    was 

brass.  brass. 


Yes. 


Yes. 


On  a  box. 
Red. 

On  a  box. 
Red. 

Three, 

Four, 

Oreen. 

Green, 

Six, 

Five, 

Red, 

Red, 

Yellow. 
The  street. 

Yellow. 
The  street. 

The  street. 

The  street. 

No. 
White, 

No,  a  door. 

Red,  I  mean  blue. 

The     oilcloth  was  Blue  oilcloth. 

yellow. 
No.  No. 

The  kitchen.  The  kitchen. 


Marking  of  Annie  D 's  First  and  Second  Set  of 

Answers. 

Annie  D starts  off  well  with  her  first  11  an- 


swers nearly  all  correct,  except  to  Positional  Ques- 
tion 3.  The  color  of  the  lady's  skirt  is  given 
wrongly  the  first  week,  but  correctly  the  week  after, 


FIBST  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS  75 

and  the  answer  to  Question  14  might  very  well  be  a 
guess.  The  position  question  (Number  17)  is  an- 
swered wrongly,  as  usual;  and  the  position  of  the 
boy's  feet  (Number  18)  had  evidently  not  been  no- 
ticed. Her  knowledge  of  the  colors  of  the  boy's  gar- 
ments is  obviously  very  small,  and  the  suggestion 
that  he  was  wearing  boots  readily  accepted.  The 
jug  had  evidently  been  seen,  but  not  accurately 
placed  (Questions  27,  28,  29).  The  first  answer 
given  to  Question  32  shows  an  error  due  to  associa- 
tion, which  is  corrected  the  week  after ;  a  correction 
which  may  be  due  partly  to  the  influence  of  Question 
33,  though  it  is  fairly  certain  that  the  knife  had 
been  seen  and  remembered.  The  Number  Questions 
(39  and  41)  are,  as  usual,  badly  answered;  whilst  it 
is  interesting  to  see  that,  though  the  implication  of  a 
window  is  accepted  in  Answer  44,  in  the  less  sug- 
gestive form  of  Question  46,  the  existence  of  the 
window  is  negatived.  The  answers  to  Questions  48 
and  49  are  accepted  as  negativing  the  suggestion  of 
a  carpet  and,  on  the  first  occasion,  as  giving  cor- 
rectly the  color  of  the  floor. 

The  total  number  of  correct  observations  in  the 
first  interrogatory  is  31,  and  in  the  second  is  32.  It 
is  interesting  to  note  which  of  the  answers,  wrong 
the  first  week,  are  right  the  second  week,  and  vice 
versa. 

Annie  D 's  Self -Corrections. 

These,  as  already  explained,  followed  imme- 
diately after  the  second  interrogatory.  After  look- 
ing at  the  picture,  she  said : 

'^The  little  hoy  had  a  green  coat,  and  he  had  red 


76  childken's  pekceptions 

trousers,  and  green  stockings;  and  the  mother  had 
a  red  apron,  and  the  jar  was  green;  and  there  were 
two  irons  on  the  cushion  and  they  were  black. 
There  ivere  eight  green  leaves  on  the  plant  and  five 
red  flowers,  and  the  mould  was  black.  The  little  boy 
had  his  feet  on  the  strip  of  the  chair.  The  oilcloth 
was  yellow.  The  box  was  yelloiv,  and  I  could  only 
see  half  of  it.  The  bread  was  brown  bread.  The 
mother  had  a  little  bit  of  yelloiv  hair  and  a  little  bit 
of  black  hair,  and  the  little  boy  had  brown  hair.  The 
jar  had  a  handle.    The  another  was  looking  down.^' 

Marking  of  Annie  D 's  8  elf -Correction. 

Annie  seems  well  aware  that  her  answers  to  ques- 
tions about  color  and  number  had  often  been  incor- 
rect, for  she  set  to  work  to  correct  some  of  them, 
though  not  always  successfully.  'Green'  for  the 
coat,  'red'  for  the  trousers,  'red'  for  the  apron  are 
really  corrections  of  previous  errors;  but  she  had 
already  said  that  the  jar  was  green.  The  reference 
to  the  two  black  irons  on  the  'cushion'  was  not  a  cor- 
rection ;  and,  as  there  was  no  indication  that  she  was 
aware  that  she  had  omitted  any  mention  of  them 
before,  they  were  not  marked  as  corrections.  The 
attempted  corrections  of  the  number  of  leaves 
and  flowers  were  wrong.  The  position  of  the  boy's 
feet  is  now  correctly  given,  but  she  had  already  said 
that  the  oilcloth  was  yellow  and  that  the  box  was 
yellow.  "I  could  only  see  half  of  the  box"  was  ac- 
cepted as  a  correction.  "The  bread  was  brown 
bread"  was  not  an  amplification,  so  no  mark  was 
given  for  'brown.'  The  corrections  as  to  the  color 
of  the  boy's  hair  and  the  mother's  hair  are  accept- 


FIRST  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS  77 

able ;  but  as  we  did  not  know  whether  the  *  handle'  of 
the  jar  and  the  mother  'looking  down'  were  not 
rather  part  of  a  fresh  report  than  a  correction  of 
the  old  reports  and  answers,  no  marks  were  allowed 
for  them.  Annie's  indubitable  corrections  are  7  in 
number. 

TABLE  IV. 

Summarized  Results  fbom  the  Work  of  Six- Year-Old  Children, 

School  A. 


o  o 

■M  *■*  a 

a*  ^  ^  :§ 

'      Age      X             ^  ^           u  -gM  a^  ^ 

Name.               Yrs.  Mths.         ^-^  p^       .j^^  ^g-  g^  ^g 

Charles  G 6          3       Standard  lb  23          27  26  29  7 

Gertrude  D 6          3       Standard  la  39          39  41  39  7 

William  B 6          3       Standard  lb  31          38  37  38  7 

Henry   S 6          4       Standard  la  42          29  51  29  7 

George   G 6          6       Standard  lb  25          31  32  31  6 

Benjamin  E 6          7       Standard  la  22          25  37  27  5 

Rose  C 6          7       Standard  la  18          27  19  35  8 

Violet   A 6          9       Standard  lb  30          23  24  24  6 

Annie  D 6         11       Standard  lb  33          31  37  32  7 

Ellen   C 6        11       Standard  la  24          26  55  31  12 

Average 6          6.4  28.7       29.6  35.9  31.5  7.1 

Mean  variation  6.3        4.6  8.5  4.0  1.2 
Coefficient  of 

variability....  .22         .12  .24  .12  .17 

♦Standard  I  is  the  highest  grade  in  an  infants'  school ;  it  is  really 

the  commencement  of  the  senior-school  grading.     la  is  the  upper  and 
lb  is  the  lower  division. 


Comments  on  Table  IV. 

There  is  a  steady  advance  in  all  respects  on  the 
work  of  the  preceding  year.  Again  the  second  re- 
port is  better  than  the  first  and  the  second  interrog- 
atory is  better  than  the  first.  Every  6-year-old  child 
is  capable  of  considerable  self-correction;  it  is  a 
function,  or  group  of  functions,  v^hich  now  works 
steadily. 


78  CHILDKEN^S   PEKCEPTIONS 

V.    The  Wobk  of  the  Seven- Year-Old  Children  op 
School  A. 
I  give  below  one  complete  set  of  reports  and  an- 
swers from  the  work  of  the  7-year-old  children. 

Olive  H ,  aged  7  years  2  months,  gave  her  first 

report  on  Thursday,  April  14th,  at  10.10  a.  m. 

Olive  H 's  First  Spontaneous  Report. 

^'I  can  see  a  lady  with  a  Christmas  pudding,  and 
there  is  a  jug  underneath  the  chair.  The  lady  has  a 
blue  shirt  and  a  blue  blouse  and  a  red  apron.  Th6 
little  boy  has  a  green  coat  and  blue  trousers.  There 
is  a  table  with  a  pot  ivith  flowers  in  it.  The  flowers 
are  red  and  the  leaves  are  green.  It  is  standing  on 
it.  The  door  is  open.  The  pudding  is  on  the  table. 
She  is  holding  it  and  resting  it  on  the  table.  There 
is  a  knife  on  the  table.'' 

Marking  of  Olive  H 's  First  Report. 

There  are  18  correct  enumerations  of  persons  and 
things:  ^lady,'  ^Christmas  pudding,'  4ittle  boy,' 
*  chair,'  Apiece'  (of  pudding),  *jug,'  'skirt,'  'blouse,' 
'apron,'  'coat,'  'trousers,'  'pot,'  'flower'  (meaning 
the  plant),  'flowers,'  'leaves,'  'door,'  'table,'  'knife.' 
The  'table'  with  the  pot  on  it  is  the  box  on  the  right- 
hand  side;  'table'  was  not  accepted  as  a  satisfactory 
identification. 

The  boy  is  'sitting'  and  'eating;'  the  lady  is  'hold- 
ing' the  pudding  and  'resting'  it  on  the  table :  a  total 
of  four  references  to  action. 

The  positional  references  are  6  in  number.  The 
boy  is  'in'  the  chair,  and  the  jug  is  'underneath'  the 
chair;  the  flowers  are  'in'  the  pot,  the  pot  is  stand- 


FIBST  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS  79 

ing  ^on'  it  (the  table,  wrongly  identified) ;  the  door 
is  ^open';  the  pudding  is  ^on^  the  table. 

There  are  several  correct  qualifications.  The 
lady's  skirt  is  ^blue,'  her  blouse  is  ^blue,'  her  apron 
is  red;'  the  boy's  coat  is  ^ green;'  the  flowers  are 
^red'  and  the  leaves  are  ^  green :'  a  total  of  six  marks 
for  correct  qualifications. 

Olive  H thus  receives  a  total  of  34  marks  for 

her  first  report. 

Then  followed  the  first  interrogatory,  and,  ex- 
actly a  week  later,  on  April  21st,  at  10.10  a.  m.,  Olive 
gave  her  second  report. 

Olive  H '5  Second  Spontaneous  Report. 

^'I  could  see  a  lady  in  a  blue  shirt  and  a  blue 
blouse,  and  she  had  a  Christmas  pudding  on  the 
table  and  she  was  resting  her  hand  on  it.  There  was 
a  knife  on  the  table  and  the  little  boy  had  a  slice  of 
the  pudding.  He  had  a  green  coat  and  a  pair  of 
trousers.  The  lady  had  ginger-colored  hair.  There 
was  a  jug  under  the  boy's  chair.  It  had  a  yellow  top 
to  it  and  he  was  resting  his  feet  on  the  rail.  He  had 
brown  shoes.  He  was  looking  at  the  piece  of  pud^ 
ding.  The  little  boy  had  ginger  hair.  There  was  a 
pot  with  some  red  flowers  in  it  and  it  had  some  green 
leaves  on  it..  The  door  was  open.  There  was  a  little 
box  what  you  put  coals  in  down  by  the  side  of  the 
boy's  chair.  The  lady  was  at  one  side  of  the  tablei 
and  the  little  boy  at  the  other.  The  knife  had  a  yel- 
low handle;  it  was  near  the  corner  of  the  table.  The 
jug  had  a  yellow  handle  and  there  were  two  little 
pieces  of  wood  sticking  out  at  the  back  of  the  thing 
what  you  put  the  coals  in.'' 


80  CHILDREN'S   PERCEPTIONS 

Marking  of  Olive  H 's  Second  Report. 

This  is  an  excellent  report  for  a  child  of  7  years 
of  age.  It  is  quite  obviously  fuller  and  more  minute 
than  the  report  of  the  preceding  week.  There  are 
28  correct  enumerations  of  persons,  things,  and 
parts  of  things.  Marks  are  obtained  for  'lady,' 
'  skirt, '  '  blouse, '  *  Christmas  pudding, '  '  table, ' 
'hand,'  'knife,'  'boy,'  'slice,'  'coat,'  'pair  of  trou- 
sers,' 'hair'  (of  the  lady),  'jug,'  'chair,'  'top'  (of 
the  chair),  'feet,'  'rail  (of  the  chair),  'shoes,'  'hair' 
(of  the  boy),  'pot,'  'flower,'  'leaves,'  'door,'  'box,' 
'handle'  (of  the  knife),  'corner'  (of  the  table), 
'handle'  (of  the  jug),  and  'pieces  of  wood'  (straps 
of  the  satchel). 

There  are  14  positional  references.  The  pudding 
is  'on'  the  table  and  the  lady's  hand  is  'on'  the  pud- 
ding; the  knife  is  'on'  the  table  and  'near'  the  cor- 
ner; the  jug  is  'under'  the  chair;  the  boy's  feet  are 
'on'  the  rail;  the  pot  has  flowers  'in'  it  and  green 
leaves  'on'  it  (the  flower) ;  the  box  is  'down  by  the 
side  of  the  chair;  the  door  is  'open';  the  lady  is 
'one  side  of  the  table,  the  little  boy  is  'at  the  other;' 
the  pieces  of  wood  were  'at  the  back'  (of  the 
satchel),  and  they  were  'sticking  out.' 

The  attributive  qualifications  correctly  mentioned 
are  also  numerous.  The  lady's  skirt  is  'blue'  and 
her  blouse  is  'blue;'  the  boy's  coat  is  green;  the 
lady's  hair  is  'ginger'  colored  and  the  boy's  is 
'ginger;'  the  flowers  are  'red;'  the  leaves  are 
'green;'  the  box  is  'little;'  the  pieces  of  wood 
(straps)  are  'two'  in  number  and  they  are  'little' 
pieces.    This  makes  a  total  of  10  qualifications. 


FIBST  SEBIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS 


81 


The  actions  mentioned  are  less  in  number  than 
usual;  the  boy  is  ^looking  at'  the  piece  of  pudding; 
the  lady  is  *  resting  her  hand  on'  the  pudding,  and 
it  is  doubtful  whether  the  second  is  not  rather  a 
statement  of  position  than  of  action. 

Olive  H achieves  the  high  total  of  56  marks 

for  her  second  report,  an  improvement  of  22  marks 
on  the  work  of  the  previous  week. 

Olive   H 's   First  and   Second   Sets  of   Answers   Given   on 

April  14th  and  April  22nd  at  10.10  A.  M. 


Questions. 

1.  Which  side  of  the  table 

was    the    lady    stand- 
ing? 

2.  What  was  she  doing? 


3.  How  was  the  lady  hold- 

ing what  she  had  in 
her  hand? 

4.  Had    the    lady    anything 

else  in  her  hand  beside 
what  you  have  told  me 
about? 

5.  What    clothes    was    the 

lady  wearing? 

6.  What  sort  of  a  hat  had 

she? 

7.  What   was    she   wearing 

on  her  feet? 

8.  Could  you  see  her  feet? 

9.  Had   she    a   pinafore   or 

apron  on? 

10.  Had  she  a  frock  on? 

11.  What     color     was     her 

blouse? 

12.  What  was   the   color   of 

her  skirt? 

13.  What     color     was     her 

apron? 


First  Set  of 
Answers. 

At   the   corner 
( showed    right- 

ly). 

I  think  she  was 
cutting  her  own- 
self  a  hit  of  pud- 
ding. 

Like  that  (showed 
nearly  rightly). 

No,    she   was   only 

holding    the 

Christmas      pud- 
ding. 
A  red  apron,  a  hlue 

hlouse  and  skirt. 
She    hadnH    got    a 

hat. 
I  had  not  looked  at 

them. 
I  donH  know. 
An  apron  she  had 

on. 
No,  she  had  a  hlouse 

and  skirt  on. 
Blue. 

Blue, 

Red. 


Second  Set  of 
Answers. 

This  side    {showed 
rightly). 

Resting    her    hand 
on    the   pudding. 


Like  that    {showed 
nearly  rightly). 

No,    she   was   only 
holding   the 
Christmas    pud- 
ding. 

A  red  apron,  a  hlue 
hlouse  and  skirt, 

She    hadn't    got    a 
hat. 

Brown  hoots ,  I 
think. 

I  think  I  could  see. 

No,  an  apron. 

No,  she  had  a  hlouse 

and  skirt  on. 
Blue. 

Blue, 

I  think  it  toui  hluei. 


82 


CHILDKEN  S   PEKCEPTIONS 


Questions. 


First  Set  of 
Answers. 


14.  What     color     were     her   /  donH  know, 

boots  or  shoes? 

15.  What     color     was     the   Ginger, 

lady's  hair? 

16.  What   was   the  boy   do- 

ing? 


Second  Set  of 
Answers. 

Brown,  I  think. 


17.  How  was  he  holding  it? 

18.  Where    were    the    boy's 

feet? 

19.  What    clothes    was    the 

boy  wearing? 


He  was  eating  a 
piece  of  Christ- 
mas puddilng. 

Like  that  (showed 
nearly  rightly). 

Leaning  on  the  rail 
of  the  chair. 

He  had  a  green 
coat  and  a  tlue 
pair  of  trousers. 
He  was  smiling. 

Green. 

Blue. 


20.  What  color  was  his  coat? 

21.  What     color     were     his 

trousers? 

22.  What     color     were     the   Brown  shoes. 

boy's  boots  or  shoes? 

23.  What     color     were     his  Black. 

stockings  ? 

24.  What  color  was  his  hair? 


Ginger, 

He  was  eating  a 
piece  of  Christ- 
mas pudding. 

Like  that  (showed 
nearly  rightly). 

Resting  on  the  rail 
of  the  chair. 

He  had  a  green 
coat  and  a  blue 
pair  of  trousers. 
He  was  smiling. 

Green, 

Blue. 

Brown  shoes. 

Brown. 

Red, 


25.  What  sort  of  boots  had 

he? 

26.  What  sort  of  shoes  had   Brown  shoes, 

he? 

27.  Did    you    see    anything   Yes,  a  jug, 

under  the  boy's  chair? 

28.  Did  you  see  a  jug? 

29.  What  color  was  it? 


Ginger,  like  the 

lady^s. 
He  had  shoes.  He  had  shoes. 


Brown  shoes. 


Yes,  a  jug. 


Yes.  Yes. 

It   had   a   red   rim   Yellow,  and  a  hlue 
and  a  yellow  hot-       rim  nearly  at  the 


30.  Did  you  see  anything  on 
the  floor  near  the  jug? 


tom  to  it. 


top. 


A  red  thing  with  A  little  "box  where 
two  sticks  at  the  you  put  coals, 
back,  I  don't 
know  what  it 
was.  It  might 
have  been  a  box 
to  put  coals  in. 

31.  What  color  was  the  ta-  A  yellow  color,  A  yellow  color, 

ble? 

32.  What  was  on  the   table   Only  a  knife.  Only  a  knife, 

beside   what   the    lady 
was  holding? 

33.  Did  you  see  a  knife?         Yes,  Yes. 


FIBST  SEBIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS 


83 


Questions. 

34.  Whereabouts  on  the  ta- 
ble was  it? 


35.  What     color     was     the 
knife? 


First  Set  op 
Answers. 

The  knife  was  lay- 
ing here,  beside 
the  lady  where 
she  was  stand- 
ing (showed 
rightly). 

It  was  a  lead  knife, 
grey. 


see    a    flower-   Yes, 


36.  Did    you 

pot? 

37.  Where  was  it? 

38.  What     color     were     the 

flowers? 

39.  How  many  flowers  were 

there? 

40.  What     color     were     the 

leaves? 

41.  How   many   leaves   were 

there? 

42.  What     color     was     the 

flower-pot? 

43.  What  color  was  the  box? 

44.  What     could     you     see 

through  the  open  win- 
dow? 

45.  What     could     you     see 

through  the  open  door? 

46.  Did  you  see  a  window? 

47.  What     color     were     the 

walls  of  the  room? 

48.  What  color  was  the  car- 

pet? 

49.  Did  you  see  a  carpet? 


50.  What  room  was  it? 


Standing  on  a  hox. 
Red, 

Two, 

Green. 

I  donH  know. 

Red. 

Yellow. 

It    wasnH    a    win- 
dow. 

A    hit   of  the  gar- 
den. 
No. 
Yellow. 

I    think    that    was 
yellow. 

The  floor  was  yel- 
low.     No,    it 
didnH    have    a 
carpet. 

I    think   it   was    a 
dining-room. 


Second  Set  of 
Answers. 

The  knife  was  at 
the  side  of  the 
lady.  I  think  it 
was  the  right- 
hand  side  (show- 
ed rightly). 

The  handle  was 
yellow  and  the 
other  part  looked 
as  if  it  was  made 
of  grey  stuff. 

Yes. 

Standing  on  a  how. 
Red. 

Three. 

Oreen. 

I   didnH   count 

them. 
Red. 

Yellow. 

It  wasnH  a  win- 
dow. 

A   hit   of  the  gar- 
den. 
No. 
Yellow. 

It    didn't    have    a 

carpet. 
No,   it  didn't   have 

a  carpet. 


I   think   it   was   a 
dining-room. 


Marking  of  Olive  H 's  First  and  Second  Sets  of 

Answers. 

The  questions  are  excellently  answered.     Olive 
H is  one  of  the  best  of  the  children  of  this  group 


84  CHILDKEN^S   PEKCEPTIONS 

in  the  interrogatory  work.  One  of  the  children  is 
decidedly  better,  and  three  of  them  are  approxi- 
mately equal  to  Olive.  One  or  two  notes  with  refer- 
ence to  her  answers  may  be  found  serviceable.  She 
fails  on  both  occasions  in  the  position  question 
(Number  3) ;  she  does  not  exactly  know  how  the  lady 
was  holding  the  loaf;  but  she  is  very  nearly  right. 
She  resists  suggestion  extremely  well,  as  witness 
her  decided  answers  to  Questions  4  and  6.  In  an- 
swer to  Questions  7  and  8,  she  scores  marks  the  sec- 
ond week,  but  fails  the  first  week;  her  failure  is, 
however,  nearly,  if  not  quite,  as  satisfactory  as  her 
success.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that,  in  the  course 
of  the  week's  interval,  she  has  temporarily  for- 
gotten the  color  of  the  lady's  apron  (Question  13), 
but  only  temporarily,  one  would  suppose,  for  a  min- 
ute or  so  before  she  has  said  it  was  red  (Answer  5). 
The  position  question  17,  like  Question  3,  is  an- 
swered wrongly,  but  again,  most  unusually,  the  an- 
swer is  nearly  right.  The  position  of  the  boy's  feet 
has  been  correctly  observed  and  remembered,  but 
the  colors  of  his  trousers  and  shoes  and  stockings 
are  invariably  given  wrongly.  Suggestion  is  re- 
sisted as  before  in  Answer  25 ;  and  the  jug  is  gratu- 
itously provided  with  a  colored  rim,  ^red'  the  first 
week  and  ^blue'  the  second.  It  was  necessary  to 
mark  the  answer  about  the  knife  as  correct.  I  have 
explained,  when  discussing  the  marking  of  the  an- 
swers, that  this  question  was  badly  framed,  and  this 
child  does  seem  to  have  noticed  the  appearance  of 
the  blade,  though  she  is  wrong,  the  second  week,  as 
to  the  handle.  She  knows  she  does  not  know  how 
many  leaves  there  were  on  the  plant  (Question  41) ; 


FIRST  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS  85 

and  resists  the  implication  of  the  window  in  Ques- 
tion 44.  Dining-room  is  accepted  as  a  satisfactory 
answer  to  the  last  question. 

Olive  H thus  receives  37  marks  for  her  first 

interrogatory  and  39  for  her  second. 

After  the  second  interrogatory,  the  child  was 
again  allowed  to  see  the  picture  and  to  correct  any- 
thing which  she  had  given  wrongly,  as  has  already 
been  explained. 

Olive  H ^s  Self -Correction. 

''The  walls  were  blue  and  I  told  you  yellow.  It 
was  the  door  that  ivas  yellow.  The  flower  had  eight 
leaves  on  it.  The  jug  hadnH  a  blue  rim  round  it. 
The  lady  had  a  red  apron  on.  She  had  black  shoes 
and  the  little  boy  had  black  shoes  and  black  stock- 
ings. He  had  red  trousers;  I  said  they  were  blue, 
but  they  We  red.  The  knife  had  a  black  handle,  it 
didn't  have  a  yellow  one.  The  pot  was  red  and  I 
said  it  was  yellow.    No,  I  didn't,  I  said  it  was  red.'' 

Marking  of  Olive  H 's  Self -Correction. 

From  Olive's  self-correction,  it  seems  quite  clear 
that  we  must  turn  to  her  original  reports  and  inter- 
rogatories to  see  just  what  she  did  say.  She  did  say 
the  walls  of  the  room  were  yellow,'  and  ^blue'  is  an 
acceptable  correction.  No  statement  had  been  made 
as  to  the  color  of  the  door,  nor  was  there  any  indi- 
cation that  the  child  was  aware  she  had  left  it  out 
previously,  so  no  mark  was  given  for  it ;  quite  obvi- 
ously, it  is  offered  as  an  excuse  for  having  gone 
wrong  about  the  color  of  the  walls.  Olive  was  aware 
that  she  had  left  out  the  number  of  the  leaves,  but, 
unfortunately  for  her,  there  were  not  eight,  but 


86  children's  perceptions 

nine;  so  that  her  correction  is  not  itself  correct. 
**The  jug  had  not  a  blue  rim,''  though  she  had 
formerly  asserted  it  to  have  one ;  this,  therefore,  is 
an  admitted  correction.  The  color  of  the  lady's 
apron  is  a  correction  of  the  answer  given  in  the  sec- 
ond interrogatory.  The  color  of  the  lady's  shoes, 
and  the  boy's  shoes,  stockings  and  trousers  are  all 
real  corrections  of  error,  as  is  also  the  statement  as 
to  the  color  of  the  handle  of  the  knife.  She  was 
quite  right  about  the  flower-pot  from  the  first;  she 
had  said  something  was  yellow  which  was  not,  and 
the  continued  consciousness  of  this  confused  her  a 
little,  in  a  way  which  we  are  indeed  fortunate  if  we 
have  never  personally  experienced.  Eight  marks 
are  therefore  gained  for  self-correction. 

I  will  ask  the  reader  to  note  that  Olive  H 's 

work  is  distinctly  above  that  of  the  average  7-year- 
old  child,  as  will  be  seen  from  the  following  table. 

TABLE  V. 

Summarized  Results  fbom  the  Work  of  Four- Year-Old 
Children,  School  A. 

>*  >> 

o  o 

■M  +3  p 

d»  .bo  to  ^ 

Name.  Yrs.  Mths.        uo?  fe&n  fa>-H  wtt  ^^  mu 

Olive  H 7  2  Standard  la  34  37  56  39          8 

Isabella  W 7  3  Standard  la  40  43  53  42          7 

Molly  C 7  4  Standard  lb  32  38  39  38          3 

William  T 7  5  Standard  la  39  36  55  38          4 

Constance  R 7  6  Standard  la  55  37  66  36          4 

Annie  S 7  6  Standard  lb  20  25  23  27          6 

John   M 7  6  Standard  lb  22  27  29  28  U 

Eric  P 7  7  Standard  la  27  33  49  36          9 

Arthur  W 7  7  Standard  lb  31  30  36  33          4 

Frederic  G 7  7  Standard  lb  23  29  27  28          4 

Average 7  5.3  32.3       33.5       43.3       34.5       6.0 

Mean  variation  7.8         4.7       12.4         4.4       2.2 

♦Standard  I  is  the  highest  grade  in  an  infants'  school;  it  is  really 
the  commencement  of  the  senior-school  grading.  la  is  the  upper  and 
lb  is  the  lower  division. 


FIRST  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS  87 

Comments  on  Table  V. 

There  is  a  steady  advance  shown  in  all  respects, 
except  that  of  self-correction,  beyond  the  work  of 
the  6-year-old  children,  though  the  variability  with- 
in the  group  is  decidedly  high. 

Summarized  Results  of  the  Work  of  the  Children  in 
School  A. 
A  comparison  between  the  average  results  of  the 
work  of  the  3-,  4-,  5-,  6-,  and  7-year-old  children  may 
most  easily  be  made  by  reference  to  the  figures  of 
Table  VI. 

TABLE  VI. 

SUMMABIZED   RESULTS   FOR   AlL  CHILDREN   OF    SCHOOL  A. 


r- 

Average  Marks  for— 

\ 

^ 

s 

B 

0 

d 

a 

a 

OS 

0; 

©2 

2 

S  o 

& 

o!a 

,— Average  Age.-^ 

.3  o 

S-2 
fo5 

Sj  ST 

8^ 

tS\ 

^S 

Yrs. 

Mths. 

fe« 

KM 

mS 

3-4 

10 

3 

7.8 

8.3 

13.2 

10.9 

15.8 

0.0 

4-5 

10 

4 

8.9 

15.1 

21.6 

19.4 

24.2 

3.2 

5-6 

10 

5 

8.2 

25.3 

26.3 

31.9 

28.5 

4.4 

6—7 

10 

6 

6.4 

28.7 

29.6 

35.9 

31.5 

7.1 

7-8 

10 

7 

5.2 

32.3 

33.5 

43.3 

34.5 

6.0 

Comments  on  Table  VI. 

It  may  be  of  service  if  I  call  attention  to  a  few 
of  the  more  prominent  of  the  statistical  relation- 
ships between  the  numbers  given  in  Table  VI. 

1.  From  3  years  to  7  years  the  marks  both  for 
the  1st  and  2nd  Eeports  quadruple  themselves. 

2.  From  3  years  to  7  years  of  age  the  marks  for 
the  1st  and  2nd  Interrogatories  rather  more  than 
double  themselves. 

3.  The  power  of  reporting,  therefore,  grows 
much  more  rapidly  than  the  power  of  observation 


88  CHILDKEN^S   PERCEPTIONS 

in  the  narrower  sense.  Whether  this  difference  is  «i 
natural  one  or  a  nurtural  one,  or  to  what  extent  the 
difference  is  natural  or  environmental  cannot  be  de- 
termined with  certainty  from  experiments  like 
these.  The  school  curriculum  and  method  of  today 
certainly  favor  a  development  of  a  linguistic  kind 
rather  than  one  of  an  observational  kind.  It  is  true 
that  experimental  work  on  adults  also  seems  to  show 
comparatively  little  development  in  visual  percep- 
tion as  compared  with  progress  made  in  reporting 
upon  percepts.  But  this  of  itself  may  be  a  result  of 
school  training  and  life  work  rather  than  of  inade- 
quate natural  endowment.  For  in  schools  and  life 
it  is  very  important  that  we  should  be  able  to  give 
accounts  of  what  we  see  and  know;  it  is  of  less  ac- 
count to  most  of  us  that  we  should  see  all  there  is  to 
be  seen.  The  living  intelligence,  quite  rightly,  is 
selective ;  and  we  must  remember  that,  in  cultivating 
observation — if  we  can  cultivate  it — ^we  should  con- 
sider always.  What  for  ?  as  well  as  How  ? 

4.  The  self-corrections  do  not  begin  until  after 
the  age  of  three  is  passed;  there  is  then  a  steady 
rise  with  age  and  capacity,  but  a  slight  fall  at  the 
age  of  seven,  which  occurs  also  in  the  other  infants' 
school  in  which  these  experiments  were  made.  This 
self-correction  is,  perhaps,  the  most  highly  educa- 
tive aspect  of  these  experiments.  The  child  has  to 
remember  what  he  has  already  said  and  compare 
with  what  he  now  sees.  It  is  an  excellent  means  of 
correcting  that  pernicious  habit  of  mind,  which,  un- 
der the  name  of  imagination'  (a  term  falsely  ap- 
plied psychologically),  cannot  distinguish  what  it 
thinks  from  what  it  knows,  and  cannot  separate  its 


FIBST  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS  89 

own  contributions  to,  and  interpolations  between, 
the  facts  from  the  facts  themselves.  That  our  most 
confident  statements  may  be  wrong,  and  wrong,  too, 
on  the  evidence  of  our  own  perceptions,  is  a  most 
valuable  lesson.  We  are  frequently  told  by  others 
(children  are  very  candid  to  one  another  in  this  re- 
spect) that  we  are  quite  in  error;  but  that  shakes  us 
very  little ;  we  know,  we  think,  why  other  people  say 
so;  and,  if  we  cannot  find  an  unworthy  motive,  we 
can  at  least  denounce  their  incompetence:  but  the 
method  of  self-correction  here  adopted  leaves  no 
opportunity  for  evasions  of  this  kind.  Of  course, 
we  can  deny  that  the  picture  is  the  same  as  that 
which  we  saw  before ;  and,  indeed,  that  is  precisely 
what  large. numbers  of  older  children  actually  did, 
as  may  appear  more  fully  on  pages  154,  219,  220,  221. 
5.  The  general  rise  from  the  first  to  the  second 
interrogatory  shows  that  the  demand  for  the  pro- 
duction and  reproduction  of  what  was  learned  by 
means  of  the  original  visual  experience  has,  on  the 
whole,  not  rendered  the  memory  of  it  more,  but  less 
imperfect ;  and  this  is  the  case,  even  though  many  of 
the  questions  were  suggestive  of  error  and,  indeed, 
frequently  produced  it ;  but  which  aspects  of  the  ex- 
perience faded  and  which  aspects  seemed  to  grow 
more  stable  are  questions  which  must  be  postponed 
for  the  present. 


CHAPTER  IV. 
SECOND  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS.    SCHOOL  B. 

This  school  is  also  a  municipal  school  in  London. 
It  is  situated  in  a  good  suburban  neighborhood  and 
provides  school  accommodation  for  a  high  type  of 
child,  though  probably  not  for  quite  the  highest  type 
of  elementary  school  child.  The  school  staff  is  a 
good  one  and  the  Mistress  had  had  much  experience 
in  experimental  work.  About  one-third  of  the  ob- 
servations were  made  by  the  Mistress  and  myself 
jointly;  the  others  were  made  by  the  Mistress  alone. 
The  school  is  somewhat  smaller  than  the  one  in 
which  the  observations  just  described  were  made, 
and  there  is  one  further  feature  of  difference  which 
calls  for  notice.  There  were  so  few  children  in  this 
school  at  that  time  who  were  between  3  and  4  years 
of  age  that  we  thought  no  useful  purpose  would  have 
been  served  by  an  endeavor  to  obtain  representative 
marks  for  3-year-old  children  of  this  type,  for  we 
had  not  sufficient  material  to  ensure  that  our  figures 
would  be  fairly  representative.  But  careful  selec- 
tions were  made  of  4-year-old,  5-year-old,  6-year- 
old,  and  7-year-old  children  in  the  way  which  has 
already  been  described  in  the  case  of  the  previous 
school.  The  precautions  adopted  in  that  case  to 
prevent  the  school-staff  from  teaching  up  to  the 
method,  and  so  invalidating  (for  psychological  pur- 

90 


SECOND  SERIES  OP  EXPERIMENTS  91 

poses)  the  figures  obtained,  were  also  adopted  in 
this  school.  Indeed,  the  only  important  differences 
between  this  school  and  the  last  one  are  (1)  the  su- 
perior social  type  of  children  in  attendance  and  (2) 
the  paucity  of  3-year-old  children  which,  as  I  have 
said,  induced  us  to  leave  out  the  children  of  this  age 
altogether.  We  commence,  therefore,  with  the  work 
of  the  4-year-old  children. 

I.  The  Work  of  the  Four- Year-Old  Children  op 
School  B. 
I  will  give,  as  exemplifying  the  work  of  the  chil- 
dren of  this  age,  the  reports,  answers  and  self -cor- 
rections of  Yola  C ,  whose  marks  throughout  ap- 
proximated closely  to  the  average  mark  for  this 

group.    Yola  C ,  aged  4  years  5  months,  gave 

his  first  report  on  Tuesday,  January  17,  1911,  at 
2.30  p.  m. 

Yola  C 's  First  Spontaneous  Report. 

^^ A  little  hoy — there  was  the  mother  there,  the 
floivers  standing  on  something.  The  door  was  open. 
The  boy  was  eating  pudding.  The  door  was  open 
and  the  mother  came  in,  she  brought  some  pudding 
in — she  left  it  open,  she  did.  There  was  something 
on  the  floor  there.  There  was  something  under  the 
table.    The  little  boy  sat  on  the  chair.'' 

Marking  of  Yola  C 's  First  Spontaneous  Report. 

Yola  C 's  first  report  combines  two  aspects 

which  may  at  first  appear  incompatible;  he  is  cau- 
tious about  his  identifications  of  things,  and  he  tells 
us  how  it  was  that  'the  mother'  came  to  be  there.  It 
is  not  a  sign  of  low  intelligence  to  be  cautious  in 


92  CHILDREN'S   PERCEPTIONS 

identifying;  and  on  our  system  of  marking  marks 
will  be  accredited  for  ^little  boy/  ^mother,'  *  flow- 
ers,' ^something'  (meaning  the  box),  ^door,'  ^boy,' 
'pudding'  (the  boy's  pudding),  Spudding'  (the 
mother's  pudding),  'something'  (the  boy's  satchel), 
'floor,'  'something'  (the  jug),  'table'  and  'chair.'  A 
total  of  13  marks  is  thus  scored  for  the  enumeration 
of  the  persons  and  things  seen  in  the  picture. 

The  observed  actions  are  two  in  number;  the  boy 
'was  eating,'  and  'he  sat.' 

There  are  several  positional  references.  The 
second  'there'  was  neither  emphasized  nor  accom- 
panied by  any  indication  of  locality,  so  it  received 
no  mark;  and,  of  course,  the  first  'there'  is  not  a 
specific  reference  to  position.  The  flowers  are 
'standing  on  something'  is  taken  to  indicate  the 
position  of  the  plant;  though  I  do  not  feel  wholly 
certain  that,  for  children  of  this  age,  the  word 
'standing,'  even  when  used  about  flowers,  contains 
no  element  of  action.  The  door  is  'open.'  'Some- 
thing' (the  satchel)  is  'on'  the  floor.  'Something' 
(the  jug)  is  stated  to  be  'under'  the  table;  but,  as 
the  jug  is  actually  under  the  chair,  no  mark  is  given 
for  this  positional  reference.  Finally,  the  boy  sat 
'on'  the  chair.  There  are  'four'  marks  for  position, 
so  that  a  total  of  19  marks  is  given  to  Tola's  first 
report. 

The  second  report  was  given  exactly  one  week 
later,  namely,  at  2.30  on  January  24,  after  the  first 
interrogatory  which  followed  immediately  upon  the 
first  report;  but  it  is  printed  here  so  that  the  first 
and  second  reports  may  the  more  easily  be  com- 
pared. 


SECOND  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS  93 

Tola  C 's  Second  Spontaneous  Report. 

'^A  boy — he  was  eating  pudding.  There  was  a 
jug  under  the  table.  He  was  sitting  on  the  chair. 
The  door  was  open.  The  flower  was  standing  on 
something  else,  a  box,  I  think.  They  were  red;  they 
had  some  red  flowers.  The  mother  was  standing  on 
the  floor.    There  is  a  jug.   A  knife  on  the  table.'' 

Marking  of  Yola  C 's  Second  Spontaneous 

Report. 

On  this  occasion,  12  marks  are  scored  for  the  enu- 
meration of  persons  and  things:  one  each  for  ^boy,' 
Spudding,'  ^jug,'  Hable/  'chair/  'door,'  'flower' 
(meaning  the  plant),  'box,'  'flowers'  (meaning  the 
blooms),  'mother,'  'floor'  and  'knife.' 

There  are  three  actions  noted:  the  boy  was  'eat- 
ing' and  'sitting,'  and  the  mother  was  'standing.' 

There  are  five  accurate  positional  references :  the 
jug  is  not  'under'  the  table;  but  the  boy  is  'on'  the 
chair,  the  door  is  'open,'  the  flower  (plant)  is 
'standing  on'  the  box,  the  mother  is  standing  'on  the 
floor,'  and  the  knife  is  'on'  the  table. 

One  descriptive  adjective  is  used:  "they  were 
red — they  had  some  red  flowers."  Thus  21  marks 
are  obtained  for  Yola's  second  report,  an  advance 
of  two  units  on  the  work  of  the  previous  week. 

Yola   C 's   Fibst  and   Second   Sets   of  Answers   Given   on 

January  17th  and  January  24th,  1911,  at  2.35  P.  M. 

FntST  Set  of  Second  Set  of 

Questions.  Answers.  Answers. 

1.  Which  side  of  the  table   That  side   (showed  This  side    (showtd 

was    the    lady    stand-        rightly),  ivrongly). 

ing? 

2.  What  was  she  doing?         Standing     "by    him  CHving    the    toy 

holding    a    pud-       some  pudding, 
ding. 


94 


CHILDKEN^S   PERCEPTIONS 


Questions. 

3.  How  was  the  lady  hold- 

ing what  she  had  in 
her  hand? 

4.  Had    the    lady   anything 

else  in  her  hand  be- 
sides what  you  have 
told  me? 

5.  What    clothes    was    the 

lady  wearing? 

6.  What  sort  of  a  hat  had 

she? 

7.  What   was   she   wearing 

on  her  feet? 

8.  Could  you  see  her  feet? 

9.  Had   she   a   pinafore   or 

apron  on? 
10.  Had  she  a  frock  on? 


11.  What     color     was     her 

blouse  ? 

12.  What     color     was     her 

skirt? 

13.  What     color     was     her 

apron  or  pinafore? 

14.  What     color     were     her 

shoes? 

15.  What  color  was  her  hair? 

16.  What   was   the   boy   do- 

ing? 

17.  How  was  he  holding  it? 

18.  Where    were    the    boy's 

feet? 

19.  What    clothes    was    the 

boy  wearing? 

20.  What  color  was  the  boy's 

jacket? 

21.  What     color     were     the 

boy's  trousers? 

22.  What     color     were     the 

boy's  boots  or  shoes? 

23.  What     color     were     the 

boy's  stockings? 

24.  What  color  was  his  hair? 

25.  What  sort  of  boots  had 

he? 


First  Set  of 
Answers. 

In  her  hand  {show- 
ed wrongly). 

No. 


Second  Set  op 
Answers. 

Like  that    (showed 
wrongly). 

No, 


She    might     have 

She    might     have 

hlue  on. 

hlue  on. 

I  didn't  see  one. 

She      might      have 

hlack. 

Shoes, 

Shoes     and     stock- 

ings. 

No. 

No. 

An  apron. 

No,     she    had     an 

apron  on. 

A  Mouse  on,  and  a 

She   had   a    hlouse 

belt  round  her. 

on,    she    had    a 

skirt. 

It  might  he  yellow. 

It  might,  might  he 

golden. 

Black, 

Black, 

Don't  know. 

Her   pinafore? 

white. 

Black, 

Black. 

Golden. 

Light. 

Was    sitting    down 

Sitting  on  a  chair; 

on  a  chair  eating 

he     was     eating 

pudding. 

pudding. 

Like  that   (showed 

Like  that    (showed 

wrongly). 

wrongly). 

Under  the  taUe. 

Under  the  table. 

Black  trousers  and 

He  had  a  suit. 

stockings. 

Black. 

Black, 

Black  or  red. 

Black, 

Black. 

Black, 

They    might    he 

Black, 

hlack. 

Golden  hrown. 

Brown, 

Black  hoots. 

Black, 

SECOND  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS  95 

First  Set  of  Second  Set  of 

Questions.  Answers.  Answers. 

26.  What  sort  of  shoes  had  His  shoes  were  in  His  shoes  were  in 

he?  the  bedroom.  the  bedroom. 

27.  Did    you    see    anything  No.  Yes. 

under  the  boy's  chair? 

28.  Did  you  see  a  jug?  /  never  saw  a  jug;   Yes. 

it  might  be  a  pot 
there. 

29.  What     color     was     the  Brown.  Don't  know. 

jug? 

30.  Did  you  see  anything  on   Yes,  it  might  be  a  A  stool. 

the  floor  near  the  jug?       stool  there. 

31.  What  color  was  the  ta-  Brown.  Brown. 

ble? 

32.  What    else    was   on    the  Tablecloth.  Don't    know. 

table  besides  the  pud- 
ding? 

33.  Did  you  see  a  knife?  2Vo,   the  knife  was   The  knife  was  on 

in  the  drawer.  the  table. 

34.  Whereabouts  on  the  ta-  She  cut  him  a  piece    (Showed  rightly.) 

ble  was  it?  and  then  she  put 

the  knife  on  the 
table. 

35.  What     color     was     the  Black.  Brown. 

knife? 

36.  Did    you    see    a    flower-   Yes.  Yes. 

pot? 

37.  Where  was  it?  Standing  on  some-   On     a     great ^     big 

thing.  stool. 

38.  What     color     were     the  Red.  Red. 

flowers? 

39.  How  many  flowers  were   Two.  Two. 

there? 

40.  What     color     were     the  Brown  or  black,  no   Green. 

leaves?  green. 

41.  How  many   leaves  were   Two.  Three. 

there? 

42.  What     color     was     the   White.  Brown. 

flower-pot? 

43.  What  color  was  the  box?  Black.  Black. 

44.  What     could     you     see  /  couldn't  see.  The  grass. 

through  the  open  win- 
dow? 

45.  What     could     you     see  Yes,  there  might  be  The  garden. 

through  the  open  door?       a  jug  there. 

46.  Did  you  see  a  window?     No.  The    window    was 

there. 

47.  What    color     were     the  Brown.  White. 


96  CHILDREN'S   PERCEPTIONS 

First  Set  of  Second  Set  of 

Questions.  Answers.  Answers. 

walls  of  the  room? 

48.  What  color  was  the  car-    The    color    of    the  It  was  golden^  hits 

pet?  floor.  of  black. 

49.  Did  you  see  a  carpet?        No.  No, 

50.  What  room  was  it?  It     might     he    the  A  kitchen. 

kitchen. 

Marking  of  Yola  C 's  First  and  Second  Set  of 

Answers. 

The  marking  of  these  answers  presents  little  dif- 
ficulty. The  lady  rightly  placed  at  the  table  the  first 
week,  is  wrongly  placed  the  week  after ;  the  answers 
about  the  woman's  actions  are  acceptable;  the  third 
question,  as  usual,  is  wrongly  answered,  but  the  sug- 
gestion in  Question  4  is  resisted.  Yola  was  too 
vague  about  the  woman's  dress;  and  though  he  re- 
fused at  first  to  accept  the  suggestion  of  the  hat  in 
Question  6,  he  weakly  succumbed  the  week  after, 
and  used  his  favorite  formula  ^'\i  might  be."  Let 
me,  en  passant,  say  that  4t  might  be'  is  a  step,  and 
a  considerable  one,  in  the  differentiation  of  the 
child's  general  knowledge  from  what  he  sees  in  a 
particular  picture;  but  it  receives  no  mark,  for  the 
child  is  regarded  as  having  succumbed,  though 
doubtfully,  to  the  suggestion  that  the  woman  was 
wearing  a  hat.  The  answers  to  Questions  7  and  9 
were  accepted;  but  as  I  have  said,  the  boy,  gener- 
ally speaking,  is  very  inaccurate  about  the  lady's 
dress  and  he  seems  scarcely  to  have  remembered 
anything  about  the  colors  of  her  clothes.  In  the  sec- 
ond answer  about  the  boy's  clothes,  he  is  said  to  be 
wearing  a  'suit.'  On  the  ground  that  the  word 
'suit,'  with  young  children,  need  not  mean  garments 


SECOND  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS  97 

all  of  one  color  or  pattern,  this  answer  was  accepted. 
The  answers  about  the  colors  of  the  boy's  clothes 
are,  like  those  about  the  woman's  clothing,  very  in- 
accurate; but,  later  on,  the  references  to  the  jug, 
the  satchel  (identified  as  a  stool,  not  the  big  stool  or 
box  on  which  the  plant  stands  which  he  refers  to  in 
the  answer  to  Question  37),  the  flower-pot  and  flow- 
ers, and  the  excellent  answer  about  the  color  of  the 
carpet  given  in  the  second  interrogatory  show  that 
Yola  had  not  altogether  wasted  his  minute  of  ob- 
servation. Twenty-one  marks  were  obtained  for  his 
first  set  of  answers  and  23  for  the  second. 

Yola  C 's  Self -Corrections. 

^^ That's  a  blue  skirt.  Her  apron's  red.  The  boy 
had  got  a  green  coat  and  red  trousers.  A  bag  not  a 
stool.  I  can  see  his  shoes  there.  I  can  see  the  table.'' 

Marking  of  Yola  C 's  8  elf -Corrections. 

The  boy  is  obviously  aware  that  several  of  his  an- 
swers to  color-questions  were  wrong  and  he'  cor- 
rects some  of  them.  The  skirt  is  'blue;'  he  had  said 
in  the  interrogatories  that  it  was  black  (Question 
12).  *'Her  apron's  red;"  he  had  said  that  it  was 
white,  or  that  he  did  not  know  (Question  13).  The 
boy's  coat  is  'green'  and  his  trousers  are  'red';  he 
had  said  they  were  black,  though  once  there  was  a 
glimmering  memory  of  the  redness  of  the  trousers. 
The  satchel  was  a  'bag,'  not  a  stool!  The  boy's 
shoes  were  there,  (not  in  the  bedroom  (Question 
26).  "I  can  see  the  table"  does  not  appear  to  con- 
tain an  element  of  self-correction,  so  it  receives  no 
mark.  There  are  thus  6  corrections  which  satisfy 
the  conditions  under  which  marks  are  given. 


98  CHILDREN'S   PERCEPTIONS 

TABLE  Via. 

Summarized  Results  from  the  Work  of  Seven- Year-Old 
Children,  School  B. 

o  o 

ei  03  O 

a*  .  ^  .  5?         a 

Name.  Yrs.  Mths.           ooq  Soh  feS  oqC^  mS  oqu 

Ernest  M 4  3  Grade  Ha  22  25  27  83  10 

Phyllis  S 4  5  Grade  lib  15  21  19  22  1 

Gladys    S 4  5  Grade  lib  11  20  10  22  3 

Yola  C 4  5  Grade  lib  19  21  21  23  6 

Leonards 4  5  Grade  lib  13  27  19  30  2 

Dorothy  H 4  8  Grade  Ha  15  23  22  24  4 

Erie  M 4  8  Grade  Ila  21  26  27  28  3 

Maud  C 4  9  Grade  lib  14  24  29  25  5 

Jack  L. 4  10  Grade  Ha  27  27  42  35  3 

Mildred  G 4  11  Grade  Ha  15  21  17  26  9 

Average 4  6.9  17.2       23.5       23.3       26.8       4.6 

Mean  variation  4.0         2.3         6.4         3.8       2.3 

♦Grade  II  is  an  infant-school  grading.  Ila  is  the  upper  and  lib  is 
the  lower  division. 

Comments  on  Table  VI. 

I  suggest  that,  side  by  side  with  this  table,  the 
table  showing  the  work  of  the  4-year-old  children  in 
School  A  be  also  consulted.  There  seems  little 
doubt  that,  in  every  respect,  we  are  dealing  with  an 
abler  group  of  children  in  School  B  than  in  School 
A.  Their  average  marks  are  higher  both  for  re- 
ports and  interrogations,  and,  what  is  perhaps  even 
more  important  as  a  criterion  of  ability,  they  show  a 
much  greater  proportionate  improvement  from  the 
first  report  to  the  second  report  and  from  the  first 
to  the  second  interrogatory — moreover,  all  of  them 
make  successful  efforts  at  self-correction  whilst,  in 
School  A,  there  were  three  children  out  of  the  ten 
selected  who  gained  no  marks  whatever  under  this 
head.  The  difference  between  School  A  and  School 
B  4-year-old  children  appears  to  be  a  little  greater 


SECOND  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS  99 

in  reporting  than  in  actual  observation,  in  so  far  as 
this  latter  is  measured  by  the  answers  to  the  50 
questions  of  the  interrogatory. 

n.    The  Work  of  the  Five- Year-Old  Children  of 
School  B. 

The  work  of  the  children  of  this  age  will  be  illus- 
trated by  the  reports,  answers,  and  self-corrections 

of  Harold  N ,  aged  5  years  5  months,  whose 

marks  are  about  the  average  for  the  children  of  this 
age.  The  work  was  done  at  10.45  a.  m.  on  Tuesdays, 
July  4  and  11, 1911. 

Harold  N 's  First  Spontaneous  Report. 

^^ There  is  a  little  hoy  sitting  on  a  chair  eating 
cake,  and  there's  a  table  there  and  a  plate  on  the 
table.  And  the  mother  is  there  holding  a  dish,  and 
there's  the  floor  with  lines  on  it,  and  there's  a  door 
where  you  go  into  the  scullery;  it  was  open.  The 
table  had  legs  with  curls  in  them,  what  goes  in  and 
out  like  my  mother's  table.  The  little  boy  is  just 
going  to  put  the  cake  on  his  plate.  The  mother  is 
standing  up;  the  mother's  got  an  apron  on  cmd  she 
has  got  her  hair  done  up;  she  is  just  waiting  for  the 
little  boy  to  finish  his  cake;  she  is  going  to  cut  a 
piece  more.    There  is  a  gas-stove  and  a  plant  on  it." 

Marking  of  Harold  N 's  First  Report. 

Harold  N 's  report  is  a  long  one,  and  con- 
tains much  continuous  narration  for  a  child  of  his 
age.  He  does  not  distinguish  what  he  has  seen  in 
the  picture  from  what  he  has  thought  about  it,  and 
therefore  receives  fewer  marks  than  he  would  if 


100  CHILDREN'S   PERCEPTIONS 

his  efforts  were  merely  efforts  in  English  composi- 
tion. 

For  the  enumeration  of  persons  and  things  he  ob- 
tains 14  marks;  one  each  for  *boy,'  ^ chair,'  ^cake,' 
*  table,'  *  mother,'  *dish,'  ^  floor,'  4ines,'  *door,'  ^  legs' 
(of  the  table),  ^ apron,'  ^hair,'  ^gas-stove'  (the  box 
on  the  right  of  the  picture),  and  ^ plant.' 

An  unusual  number  of  actions  are  reported:  the 
boy  is  ^  sitting  down, '  he  is  ^  eating  cake, '  he  is  ^  going 
to  put  the  cake  on  his  plate ; '  the  mother  is  '  holding 
a  dish,'  she  is  ^standing  up,'  and  she  is  'just  wait- 
ing' for  the  little  boy  to  finish  his  cake. 

A  mark  was  allowed  for  the  statement  that  the 
mother  was  waiting;  it  was  thought  that  this  might 
have  been  an  observation  from  her  attitude;  but 
when  Harold  proceeded  to  tell  us  that  she  is  ' '  going 
to  cut  a  piece  more,"  it  was  felt  that  nothing  obser- 
vational justified  this  remark.  Harold  thus  notes  6 
actions. 

Accurate  positional  references  are  not  numerous : 
the  boy  sits  'on'  the  chair;  but  there  is  no  plate  on 
the  table.  There  are  lines  'on'  the  floor,  the  door  is 
'open,'  and  the  plant  is  'on'  the  gas-stove — a  total 
of  4  correct  references  to  position. 

There  is  one  adjectival  reference  which  is  good 
and  unusual:  the  mother  has  got  her  hair  'done  up.' 
The  door  is  described  as  one  "where  you  go  into  the 
scullery;"  I  hesitated  somewhat  about  this,  since,  if 
the  room  is  a  kitchen,  the  door  may  well  be  a  scul- 
lery door;  but  as  nothing  observational  indicates  a 
scullery,  I  thought  it  fairer  to  allow  no  mark. 

Harold's  first  report,  therefore,  obtains  25  marks. 
The  second  was  made,  as  usual,  exactly  one  week 
later. 


SECOND  SEBIES  OF  ;EXPt!'.Ri:M:ai5T:s  101 

Harold  N 's  Second  Spontaneous  Report. 

^^  There  was  a  knife  on  the  table  and  there  was  the 
mother  holding  a  dish.  There  was  a  gas-stove,  there 
was  a  plant  on  it.  It  had  some  red  flowers  on  it,  and 
there  was  some  earth  in  the  pot.  The  pot  was  red. 
The  floor  had  black  stripes  on.  And  the  mother  had 
a  blouse  on,  and  a  skirt  and  a  red  apron.  She  had 
her  hair  rolled  up.  And  the  mother  had  some  shoes 
on.  The  little  boy  had  some  shoes  on.  He  was  eat- 
ing  some  cake.  There  was  a  jar  on  the  floor.  There 
was  a  door.  It  was  blue  outside.  The  door  was 
open.  The  table  had  legs.  The  little  boy  was  sitting 
on  the  chair.'' 

Marking  of  Harold  N 's  Second  Report. 

This  report  makes  a  great  advance  in  accuracy 
on  the  first  one;  on  this  occasion  every  statement 
counts.  The  legs  of  the  table  no  longer  curl  in  and 
out  like  mother's  table  and  the  door  is  no  longer  a 
scullery  door.  Nor  do  we  learn  this  time  that  the 
mother  is  just  going  to  cut  some  more  cake. 

There  are  24  correct  enumerations  and  three  ac- 
tions are  reported.  The  positional  references  are 
numerous  and  there  are  several  descriptive  qualifi- 
cations.   In  all  Harold  N scores  40  marks  for 

his  second  report — four  marks  above  the  average 
for  his  group. 

Harold  N *s  First  and  Second  Sets  of  Answers  Given  aw 

Tuesdays,  July  4th  and  July  11th  at  10.50  A.  M. 

First  Set  of  Second  Set  of 

Questions.  Answers.  Answers. 

1.  Which  side  of  the  table   That  side   (showed  That  side   (showed 
was    the    lady    stand-       rightly),  rightly). 

ing? 


102 


OHILDfiEK  S   PERCEPTIONS 


First  Set  of 

Second  Set  of 

Questions. 

Answers. 

Answers. 

2. 

What  was  she  doing? 

Holding  a  dish. 

Holding  a  dish. 

3. 

How  was  the  lady  hold- 

Like  this    (showed 

Like  this    (showed 

ing   what   she   had   in 

wrongly). 

wrongly). 

her  hand? 

4. 

Had    the   lady    anything 
else    in   her   hand   be- 
sides the  dish? 

No. 

No. 

5. 

What    clothes    was    the 

An    apron    and    a 

An    apron    and    a 

lady  wearing? 

House    and    a 
skirt. 

tlouse  and  skirt. 

6. 

What  sort  of  a  hat  had 

She  didnH  have  one. 

She  hadnH  got  one 

she? 

at  all. 

7. 

What   was   she   wearing 
on  her  feet? 

Shoes. 

Shoes. 

8. 

Could  you  see  her  feet? 

Yes. 

Yes. 

9. 

Had  the  lady  a  pinafore 
or  apron  on? 

Yes. 

Yes. 

10. 

Had    the    lady    a    frock 
on? 

Yes. 

Yea. 

11. 

What     color     was     her 
blouse? 

Yellow. 

White. 

12. 

What     color     was     her 
skirt? 

Black. 

White. 

13. 

What     color     was     her 
apron  ? 

White. 

Red. 

14. 

What     color     were     her 
shoes? 

Black. 

Black. 

15. 

What     color     was     her 
hair? 

Brown. 

Brown. 

16. 

What   was   the    boy   do- 
ing? 

Eating  cake. 

Eating  cake. 

17. 

How  was  he  holding  it? 

(Showed  nearly 

(Showed  nearly 

rightly.) 

rightly. ) 

18. 

Where    were    the    boy's 
feet? 

Hanging  down. 

On  the  floor. 

19. 

What    clothes    was    the 

A     coat,     trousers, 

Shoes     and     socks 

boy  wearing? 

shoes  and  stock- 

and  a   coat   and 

ings. 

trousers. 

20. 

What     color     was     the 
boy's  coat? 

Blue. 

Grey. 

21. 

What     color     were     his 
trousers? 

Blue. 

Grey. 

22. 

What     color     were     the 
boy's  boots  or  shoes? 

Black. 

Black. 

23. 

What     color     were     his 
stockings? 

Dark  hlue. 

Black. 

24. 

What  color  was  his  hair? 

Brown. 

Brown. 

SECOND  SERIES  OP  EXPERIMENTS 


103 


Questions. 

25.  What  sort  of  boots  had 

he? 

26.  What  sort  of  shoes  had 

he? 

27.  Did  you  see  anything  un- 

der the  boy's  chair? 

28.  Did  you  see  a  jug? 

29.  What  color  was  the  jug? 

30.  Did  you  see  anything  on 

the  floor  near  the  jug? 

31.  What  color  was  the  ta- 

ble? 

32.  What  else  was  on  the  ta- 

ble besides  the  dish? 

33.  Did  you  see  a  knife? 

34.  Whereabouts  on  the  table 

was  it? 

35.  What     color     was     the 

knife? 

36.  Did    you    see   a    flower- 

pot? 

37.  Where  was  it? 

38.  What     color    were     the 

flowers? 

39.  How  many  flowers  were 

there? 

40.  What     color    were     the 

leaves? 

41.  How  many   leaves  were 

there? 

42.  What     color     was     the 

flower-pot? 

43.  What  color  was  the  box? 

44.  What     could     you     see 

through  the  open  win- 
dow? 

45.  What     could     you     see 

through  the  open  door? 

46.  Did  you  see  a  window? 

47.  What     color     were     the 

walls  of  the  room? 

48.  What  color  was  the  car- 

pet? 

49.  Did  you  see  a  carpet? 
50  What  room  was  it? 


FiEST  Set  of 
Answers. 

Second  Set  of 
Answers. 

Shoea. 

Shoea. 

Black. 

Black. 

No. 

Yea. 

Yea. 

Black. 

No. 

Yea. 

White. 

No. 

White. 

Brown. 

A  cloth. 

A  knife. 

Yea. 

Juat    hy   the   little 

hoy   (ahowed 

rightly). 
White   handle,    the 

other  ailver. 
Yea. 

Yea. 

There  ly  the  little 

toy    {ahowed 

rightly). 
Silver,    and    white 

handle. 
Yea. 

On  the  gaa-stove. 
Red. 

On  the  gaa-atove. 
Red. 

Four. 

Four. 

Green. 

Green. 

A  lot. 

A  lot. 

Red. 

Red. 

Red. 

Nothing,  only  a  tit 
of  hlue. 

Red. 

Blue. 

I  didn't  see. 

Blue. 

No. 

I  didn't  aee. 

No. 
Blue. 

Blacky    the    part 

with  the  linea  on. 
Yea. 
The  kitchen. 

Grey. 

Yea. 

The  kitchen. 

104  children's  perceptions 

Marking  of  Harold  N '5  First  and  Second  Sets 

of  Answers. 

There  is  very  little  in  these  answers  that  calls  for 
special  comment  or  that  presents  difficulty  in  mark- 
ing. This  boy,  with  the  exception  of  the  very  diffi- 
cult question  as  to  how  the  woman  was  holding  the 
cake  (Number  3),  had  an  uninterrupted  score  of 
success  until  he  reached  the  questions  on  the  colors 
of  the  woman's  dress.  His  answers  to  color  ques- 
tions were  almost  uniformly  bad,  though  he  had  per- 
haps noticed  the  bluish  appearance  outside  the 
door  and  he  certainly  had  noticed  the  black  lines 
on  the  floor,  though  he  did  not  know  the  color 
of  the  floor  generally.  In  answer  to  the  ques- 
tion (Number  18)  ^^ Where  were  the  boy's  feet?" 
he  very  obviously  made  'shots,'  not  at  random, 
of  course,  but  in  accordance  with  customary  ex- 
perience. He  did  not  see  the  satchel  (Question 
30) ;  he  did  see  the  knife,  though  he  had  ap- 
parently forgotten  it  for  a  moment;  and  he  had 
noticed  the  flowers  of  the  plant  on  the  box  which  he 
calls  the  gas-stove.  The  question  as  to  the  color  of 
the  box  had  little  meaning  for  him,  unless  he  was 
thinking  of  the  satchel  on  the  floor,  as  it  is  just  pos- 
sible he  might  have  been,  though  that  seems,  from 
the  self-correction,  to  have  been  very  unlikely.  I 
found  it  difficult  not  to  allow  marks  for  his  answers 
to  Question  44;  but  he  has  not  resisted  the  sugges- 
tion of  the  window,  and  so  cannot  properly  be  re- 
garded as  having  answered  this  question  accurately. 
Twenty-seven  marks  are  obtained  for  the  first  in- 
terrogatory and  32  for  the  second. 


SECOND  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS  105 

Harold  N 's  Self -Correction. 

'^I  said  four  flowers  and  there  are  only  three.  The 
mother  had  a  blue  skirt  on.  A  school-hag  was  on  the 
floor.  Green  coat;  I  said  ^ grey.'  His  trousers  were 
red.    Stockings  blue.'' 

Marking  of  Harold  N 's  Self -Correction. 

There  are  6  definite  corrections,  as  will  readily 
be  seen  by  turning  to  Harold's  reports  and  answers. 
He  had  said  that  he  had  seen  nothing  on  the  floor, 
but  now  finds  that  there  is  a  school-bag  there.  Four 
of  the  corrections  concern  color ;  he  simply  had  not 
noticed  the  color  before. 

TABLE  VII. 

Summarized  Results  from  the  Work  of  Five- Year-Old 
Children,  School  B. 

^  & 

o  o  . 

M§  4.§  ^t:  gg  gS  .g 

^ Ag« .        §^  2|  2^  S|  S^  5ig 

Name.  Yrs.  Mths.        ux  fatf  £«  ccCS  ozhJ  oqCJ 

Marjory  P 5          4  Grade  Ilia  35  38  39  41  2 

Alice   W 5          4  Grade  Ilia  32  33  55  37  9 

Harold   N 5          5  Grade  Illb  25  27  40  32  6 

Eileen  J 5          6  Grade  Illb  42  29  49  31  5 

Margaret  A 5          6  Grade  Illb  42  35  53  40  5 

Dorothy   S 5          6  Grade  Ilia  18  24  23  30  5 

Frederic  M 5          6  Grade  Illb  24  30  26  28  7 

Charles  C 5          7  Grade  Ilia  18  24  27  27  6 

William  B 5          8  Grade  Ilia  23  26  27  28  6 

Stacey  L 5  11  Grade  llla  19  26  32  26  11 

Average 5  6.3  27.8       29.2       37.1       32.0       6.2 

Mean  variation  8.0        3.8       10.2        4.4       1.7 

♦Grade  III  is  an  infant-school  grading;  it  consists  mostly  of  chil- 
dren who  will  be  six  or  somewhat  older  at  the  end  of  the  educational 
year.    Ilia  is  the  upper  and  Illb  is  the  lower  division. 

Comments  on  Table  VII. 

A  great  advance  is  to  be  seen  in  the  spontaneous 
reports  of  the  children  of  this  age,  and  a  steady  ad- 


106  CHILDREN'S   PERCEPTIONS 

vance,  though  smaller,  on  their  power  to  answer 
questions  on  what  they  have  observed.  The  second 
report  is  much  better  than  the  first,  and  the  second 
interrogatory  is  decidedly  better  than  the  first, 
though  the  difference  between  them  is  much  less. 
There  is  also  great  improvement  in  the  power  to 
make  self-corrections. 

III.    The  Work  of  the  Six- Year-Old  Children  of 
School  B. 

The  6-year-old  children  of  this  school  show  great 
capacity  in  work  of  this  kind.  As  an  illustrative  ex- 
ample, I  give  the  work  of  Eoland  V ,  aged  6 

years  9  months,  who  did  average  work  for  this 
group,  except  in  his  second  report,  which  was  much 
above  the  average.  He  gave  his  reports  on  Wednes- 
days, August  31,  and  September  7, 1910,  at  10.30  a.  m. 

Roland  V 's  First  Spontcmeous  Report. 

^^There  is  a  flower-pot  standing  on  a  box  and  a 
little  boy  eating  a  piece  of  cake.  And  there  is  a 
mother  cutting  him  a  piece  with  a  knife.  And  he  is 
sitting  on  a  chair,  and  the  door  is  open.  The  mother 
is  putting  a  pot  on  the  table,  and  she  is  standing  on 
the  floor  and  the  little  boy  is  tasting  the  cake.  The 
knife  is  on  the  table.  There  is  the  legs  of  the  chair 
in  the  picture  and  the  legs  of  the  table.  There  is 
something  standing  down  on  the  floor  with  hooks 
and  there  is  the  paper  on  the  wall.  There  is  the  sky 
outside.  The  little  boy  has  got  his  boots  and  stock- 
ings on  and  the  mother  has  got  the  apron  on,  and 
she  has  got  the  pot  on  the  table  and  she  is  holding  it. 
I  can't  think  of  anything  else.'' 


SECOND  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS  107 

Marking  of  Roland  V 's  First  Report. 

Eoland  says  that  he  can't  think  of  anything  else, 
but  he  has  certainly  remembered  a  great  deal.  He 
scores  20  marks  for  enumeration  of  persons  and 
things. 

Several  actions  are  correctly  noticed;  the  boy  is 
^eating'  and  ^sitting;'  the  mother  is  ^putting'  the 
pot  on  the  table;  she  is  ^holding'  the  pot  and  ^stand- 
ing' on  the  floor.  No  mark  is  given  for  ^Hhe  little 
boy  is  tasting  the  cake,"  it  is  held  to  be  equivalent 
to  eating  it,  which  has  already  been  said.  The 
mother  is  not  cutting  the  cake,  though  she  has  prob- 
ably just  done  so ;  the  statement  is  not  allowed  as  an 
observed  activity.  The  actions  correctly  noted  num- 
ber five. 

Positional  references  are  numerous.  The  flower- 
pot is  ^standing'  and  it  is  'on'  the  box;  the  boy  is  sit- 
ting 'on'  a  chair,  and  the  door  is  'open;'  the  pot  is 
'on'  the  table;  the  woman  is  standing  'on'  the  floor, 
and  the  knife  is  'on'  the  table;  something  (the 
satchel)  is  'standing,'  it  is  'down  on'  the  floor  and 
the  hooks  are  'on'  it;  the  paper  is  'on'  the  wall,  and 
the  sky  is  'outside' ;  a  total  of  12.  The  apron  is  'on' 
the  mother,  but  that  is  equivalent  with  these  children 
to  the  mother  has  an  apron  on,  so  no  positional  mark 
is  given  for  it. 

Eoland  scores  37  marks  for  his  first  report. 

Roland  V 's  Second  Spontaneous  Report. 

^^  There  was  a  little  boy  with  boots  and  stockings 
on,  and  he  was  tasting  a  piece  of  cake.  There  was  a 
knife  on  the  table  and  the  mother  had  an  apron  on 


108  CHILDREN'S   PERCEPTIONS 

and  she  had  the  pot  in  her  hand.  The  little  hoy  was 
sitting  on  a  chair,  and  the  door  was  open  and  he  had 
laced  hoots — there  were  the  legs  of  the  chair  what 
he  was  sitting  on.  The  hoy  had  a  coat  on  and  he  had 
dark  hroivn  hair.  There  was  the  tahle — it  had  four 
legs.  The  knife  had  a  point  to  it,  and  it  had  a  hrown 
handle  and  the  tahle  was  flat.  The  mother  was 
watching  him.  The  door  was  open.  I  couldn't  see 
any  carpet  or  any  windoivs,  and  there  was  some- 
thing heside  the  chair  that  was  flat  with  two  hooks 
and  two  legs.  There  ivas  the  floor  and  no  carpet  on 
it.  The  mother  had  a  hodice  on.  There  was  a  pot 
with  a  geranium  in  and  the  pot  was  on  the  hox.  The 
box  luas  all  made  of  wood  and  the  hox  was  red  and 
so  ivas  the  flower.  The  hox  was  yellow.  There  were 
nails  in  it  and  there  was  mould  for  the  flower,  and 
there  were  little  branches  to  the  floiver.  The  stalk 
was  green.  Yo2i  could  see  the  sky  out  of  the  door 
and  the  sky  ivas  white  and  hlue.  The  mother  had 
been  cooking  and  she  left  the  door  open  and  the  door 
was  hrown  and  it  ivas  all  made  of  wood.  There  was 
the  handle  to  the  door.'' 

Marking  of  Roland  V 's  Second  Report. 

It  is  really  hard  to  believe  that  Eoland  had  not 
again  had  access  to  the  picture ;  but  since  there  was 
probably  no  other  similar  picture  in  London  at  the 
time,  and  this  particular  picture  was  carefully  kept 
in  the  custody  of  the  Head  Mistress,  it  is  certain 
that  he  had  not. 

First,  awarding  marks  for  the  enumeration  of 


SECOND  SEBIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS  109 

persons  and  things,  he  scores  for  ^boy,'  *  stockings,' 
Apiece  of  cake,'  ^  knife,'  'table,'  *  mother,'  *  apron,' 
'pot'  (the  hemispherical  loaf),  'hand,'  'chair,' 
'door,'  'legs'  (of  the  chair),  'coat,'  'hair,'  'legs'  (of 
the  table),  'knife,'  'point'  (of  the  knife),  'handle' 
(of  the  knife),  'something'  (the  satchel),  'hooks' 
(the  tabs  on  the  satchel),  'legs'  (the  straps  of  the 
satchel),  'floor,'  'bodice,'  'pot'  (the  flower-pot), 
'geranium,'  'box,'  'flower'  (of  the  geranium), 
'nails,'  'mould,'  'branches'  (of  the  geranium), 
'stalk'  (of  the  geranium),  and  'sky;'  a  total  of  32 
marks.    There  was  no  handle  to  the  door. 

Of  actions  it  is  noted  that  the  boy  'was  tasting' 
the  cake,  and  'was  sitting'  on  the  chair;  and  the 
mother  'was  watching'  him.  It  is  not  regarded  as 
observational  to  say  'the  mother  had  been  cooking.' 
Actions  correctly  mentioned  on  this  occasion  num- 
ber three  only.    Positional  references  total  nine. 

But  it  is  in  the  qualifications  which  he  inserts  that 
Roland  makes  his  great  advance;  the  boy's  hair  is 
'brown;'  the  legs  of  the  table  number  'four;'  the 
handle  of  the  knife  is  'brown;'  the  table  'flat;'  the 
something  (satchel)  is  'flat;'  there  are  'two'  hooks 
(the  tabs  of  the  satchel) ;  there  are  'two'  legs  (the 
straps  of  the  satchel) ;  the  box  was  'made  of  wood;' 
the  flower-pot  is  'red;'  the  flower  is  'red;'  the  box 
is  'yellow;'  the  branches  (of  the  geranium)  are  'lit- 
tle;' the  sky  is  'white'  and  'blue ;'  the  door  is  'brown' 
and  'made  of  wood.'  A  total  of  16  marks  is  scored 
for  these  aspects  of  his  reported  observations. 

For  Roland  V 's  second  report  the  high  total 

of  60  marks  is  scored. 


110  childben's  perceptions 

Roland  V 's  First  and  Second  Sets  of  Answers  Given  on 

Wednesdays,  August  31st  and  September  7th,  Immedi- 
ately After  the  Conclusion  of  His  Reports. 

First  Set  of  Second  Set  ob 

Questions.  Answers.  Answers. 

1.  Which  side  of  the  table   That  side   (showed  That  side   (showed 

was    the    lady    stand-        rightly),  rightly), 

ing? 

2.  What  was  she  doing?         Cutting    the    caJce  She  was  cutting  the 

for  the  little  hoy,       hoy    a    piece    of 
cake. 

3.  How  was  the  lady  hold-    With  her  two  hands   With  her  two  hands 

ing   what   she  had   in        (showed    wrong-       like  that    (show- 
her  hand?  ly).  ed  wrongly), 

4.  Had    the   lady    anything  :^o,   the  knife  was  No, 

else    in   her   hand   be-       on  the  tahle, 
side    what    you    have 
told  me  about? 

5.  What    clothes    was    the  An    apron    and    a  An    apron    and    a 

lady  wearing?  dress  on.  dress. 

6.  What  sort  of  a  hat  had   She  didn't  have  an^   She  didnH  have  a 

she  ?  hat.  hat. 

7.  What   was   she   wearing  Boots    and    stock-  Boots    and    stock- 

on  her  feet?  ings.  ings. 

8.  Could  you  see  her  feet?     Yes,  No,  I  could  see  the 

tip  of  her  hoot, 

9.  Had   she   a   pinafore    or  Yes,  Yes. 

apron  on? 

10.  Had  she  a  frock  on?  Yes.  Yes. 

11.  What  color  was  the  top   White,  White, 

part  of  her  dress? 

12.  What  was  the   color  of  Blue,  Black, 

her  skirt? 

13.  What     color     was     her  Blue,  White, 

apron? 

14.  What    color     were     her  Black.  Black, 

boots  or  shoes? 

15.  What     color     was     the   Brown,  Brown, 

lady^s  hair? 

16.  What   was   the   boy   do-   Eating   a  piece   of  Eating   a  piece   of 

ing?  cake.  cake. 

17.  How  was  he  holding  it?   Like  this    (showed  Like  this    (showed 

rightly).  rightly). 

18.  Where    were    the    boy's   In  his  stockings.         Below  the  chair, 

feet? 

19.  What    clothes    was    the   In  a  coat,  and  he   In  a  coat  and  stock- 

boy  wearing?  had  his  hoots  on       ings  and  hoots, 

and    huttons    to 
his  coat. 


SECOND  SEEIES  OF  EXPEKIMENTS 


111 


Questions. 

20.  What     color     was     the 

boy's  coat? 

21.  What     color     were     the 

boy's  trousers? 

22.  What     color     were     the 

boy's  boots  or  shoes? 

23.  What     color     were     his 

stockings  ? 

24.  What  color  was  his  hair? 

25.  What  sort  of  boots  had 

he? 

26.  What  sort  of  shoes  had 

he? 

27.  Did     you    see    anything 

under  the  boy's  chair? 

28.  Did  you  see  a  jug? 

29.  What  color  was  it? 

30.  Did  you  see  anything  on 

the  floor  near  the  jug, 
and  if  you  did,  what 
was  it? 


31. 
32. 


33. 
34. 

35. 


36. 
37. 


What  color  was  the  ta- 
ble? 

What  else  was  there  on   A  knife, 
the  table  bgsides  what 
the  lady  was  holding? 

Did  you  see  a  knife? 

Whereabouts  on  the  ta- 
ble was  it? 

What     color     was     the 
knife? 


First  Set 

OF 

Second  Set  of 

Answers 

Answers. 

Brown, 

Brown. 

Brown, 

Black. 

Black, 

Black. 

Brown. 

Brown, 

Light  hrovm. 

Light  hrown. 

Lace  hoots. 

Lace  up. 

Boots  he  had. 

Big  ones. 

His    legs    and 

;   the 

No, 

legs  of  the  chair. 

Yes. 

I     saw     something 
like  a  jug. 

White,    with 

flow- 

White,    with    flow 

ers  on. 

ers  on  it. 

A   flat   thing 

with 

The  flat  thing  with 

something  like 

two     hooks    amd 

two     little 

legs, 

two  legs. 

and     there 

was 

two   hooks. 

Brown. 

Brown. 

Did    you    see    a    flower- 
pot? 
Where  was  it? 


38.  What     color     were     the 

flowers? 

39.  How  many  flowers  were 

there? 

40.  What     color     were     the 

leaves? 

41.  How  many   leaves  were 

there? 


Yes. 

Just  there  (showed 
rightly). 

Brown  handle,  the 
other  was  white 
color. 

Yes,  with  mould  in 
the  top. 

On  a  "box,  and  the 
flower  was  a  ge- 
ranium. 

Red. 

Two. 

Green. 

Four, 


A  knife. 

Yes. 

Just  there  (showed 
rightly). 

Brown  the  handle 
was;  the  other 
was  white.    - 

Yes, 

Yes,  in  the  middle 
of  the  box. 

Red. 

About  four. 

Green, 

Six, 


112  CHILDKEN^S   PERCEPTIONS 

First  Set  of  Second  Set  of 

Questions.  Answers.  Answers. 

42.  What     color     was     the  Red,  Red, 

flower-pot? 

43.  What  color  was  the  box?   Yellow,  Yellow. 

44.  What  did  you  see  through   Fresh  air,  I  couldn't  see  any 

the  open  window?  window. 

45.  What  did  you  see  through   The  shy.  Fresh  air  and  the 

the  open  door?  sky, 

46.  Did  you  see  a  window?     ^o,  no  window,         No. 

47.  What     color     were     the  Shady  green.  Green, 

walls  of  the  room? 

48.  What  color  was  the  car-   /    didnH    see    any   I    didn't    see    any 

pet?  carpet,  carpet, 

49.  Did  you  see  a  carpet?         No.  No. 

50.  What  room  was  it?  Not     a     very     tig  A  kitchen, 

room,     I  think  it 
was  a  kitchen. 

Marking  of  Roland  V ^s  First  and  Second 

Interrogatories. 

No  difficult  case  arises  throughout  these  answers, 
and  the  correct  answers  number  exactly  the  same  in 
both  interrogatories.  The  woman's  skirt,  ^blue'  the 
first  week,  is  *  black'  the  week  after.  But  the  sug- 
gestion of  a  window,  half  accepted  the  first  week,  is 
decidedly  negatived  in  the  second  interrogatory. 
All  the  remaining  answers  are  identical  in  meaning 
from  week  to  week,  though  this  boy  varies  his 
phraseology  more  than  most.  He  is  very  good  at 
resisting  suggestions  to  error.  *'No,  the  knife  was 
on  the  table"  (Number  4);  *^She  didn't  have  any 
hat"  (Number  6);  ^'I  couldn't  see  any  window" 
(Number  44) ;  but  he  accepts  the  suggestion  that  the 
boy  had  boots  and  makes  them  ^lace-up  boots.'  The 
only  considerable  weakness  in  the  answers  is  in 
those  relating  to  the  color  of  the  clothing  both  of 
the  woman  and  the  boy,  and  the  errors  as  to  the  num- 


SECOND  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS  113 

bers  of  the  flowers  and  leaves.  Eoland's  mark  is  34; 
which  is  the  average  mark  of  the  children  of  this 
group  in  the  first  interrogatory  and  is  just  below  the 
average  mark  for  the  second  interrogatory. 

Roland  V 's  Self -Correction. 

'^  There  is  a  jug  under  the  chair.  I  said  the  stock- 
ings were  brown  but  they  are  blue.  His  coat  is  green 
as  well  and  her  frock  is  blue  and  so  is  her  bodice, 
a/nd  his  trousers  are  red.  The  mother's  apron  is  red 
The  boy's  hair  is  not  brown,  it  is  red  and  brown. 
There  are  a  lot  of  leaves — nine.  There  are  only 
three  flowers.'' 

Marking  of  Roland  V 's  Self -Correction. 

This  self-correction  is  well  and  clearly  done.  But 
Roland  had  already  accepted  the  jug,  though  doubt- 
fully, and  he  could  not  be  marked  again  for  that.  A 
glance  at  his  answers  in  the  interrogatories  will 
show  that  all  the  other  statements  are  really  correc- 
tions. Even  the  ^red  and  brown'  hair  is  more  accu- 
rate than  *  brown,'  though  *  brown'  has  been  allowed 
as  a  correct  answer.  Roland  is  quite  well  aware 
that  his  number-answers  and  color-answers  were 
faulty,  and  puts  many  of  them  right.  He  scores  8 
marks  for  self-correction ;  the  average  for  the  group 
is  7.0. 

Comments  on  Table  VIII. 

There  is  a  considerable  advance  in  all  respects  on 
the  work  of  the  preceding  year.  In  the  power  of  re- 
porting, the  advance  is  very  great  indeed;  and  the 
improvement  of  the  second  week's  reports  upon  the 
first  is  also  very  considerable. 


114  CHILDKElSr's   PERCEPTIONS 

TABLE  VIII. 

Summarized  Results  from  the  Work  of  Six-Yeae-Old  Children, 

School  B. 

>>  >t 

o  o  . 

•^^  -M  O  ,^^^  r^O  -g 

^ame.  Yrs.  Mths.         cjoq  £«  S "  aS^  k"  ocy 

Albert   W 6  1  Standard  lb  85  29  37  28  9 

Cyril  B 6  2  Standard  la  33  28  47  32  5 

Percy  H 6  2  Standard  lb  37  37  38  36  11 

Mabel  M 6  3  Standard  lb  36  33  43  34  9 

Marjorie  S 6  6  Standard  la  52  33  58  34  7 

Henri   M 6  6  Standard  lb  49  36  54  42  5 

Will  H 6  9  Standard  la  47  34  64  34  7 

Roland  V 6  9  Standard  lb  37  34  60  34  8 

Freda  R 6  10  Standard  la  34  41  48  41  3 

I^uisa  B 6  11  Standard  la  54  34  57  35  6 

Average 6  5.9  41.4       33.9       50.6       35.0       7.0 

Mean  variation  7.1        2.5         8.1        2.8       1.8 

*  Standard  I  is  the  highest  grade  in  an  infants*  school ;  it  is  really 
the  commencement  of  senior-school  grading.  la  is  the  upper  and  lb 
is  the  lower  division. 

IV.  The  Work  of  the  Seven- Year-Old  Children  op 
School  B. 

I  give  below,  for  illustrative  purposes,  one  com- 
plete set  of  reports  and  answers  from  the  work  of 
the  7-year-old  children.  I  select  the  work  of  Wini- 
fred S ,  aged  7  years  1  month,  who  gave  her  re- 
ports on  Tuesdays,  October  4  and  11,  1910,  at  10.45 
a.  m.  In  this  case,  the  illustration  is  not  really 
typical  of  the  children  of  this  group,  since  Wini- 
fred's work  is  much  above  the  average.  It  must  be 
regarded  as  of  a  very  high  character  for  children  of 
this  age. 

Winifred  S 's  First  Spontaneous  Report. 

^^ There  is  a  little  boy  eating  a  piece  of  cake  and 
there  is  a  lady  with  a  big  bowl  in  her  hand.  There 
is  a  flower-pot  with  some  flowers  in.     There  is  a 


SECOND  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS  115 

door-way  behind  the  lady.  There  is  a  jug  down  by 
the  table  near  the  little  boy.  There  were  some  lines 
on  it.  The  door  is  open.  The  little  boy  is  sitting  on 
a  chair.  He  has  red  stockings.  His  mother's  got  a 
red  apron  on.  There  is  a  big  flower-pot.  The  cake, 
that  the  little  boy  is  eating,  has  got  currants  in,  and 
the  mother  is  just  lifting  up  the  big  bowl.  There  is 
a  red  flower  with  some  green  and  black  leaves.  The 
little  boy  has  a  blue  coat  on.  He's  got  black  shoes 
on.  And  you  can  see  the  sky  through  the  door. 
There  is  a  lot  of  milk  in  the  big  bowl.  And  the  little 
boy  is  eating  a  brown  and  yellow  cake.  You  can  see 
the  sky  through  the  door." 

Marking  of  Winifred  S 's  First  Report. 

Twenty-one  marks  are  given  for  enumerating 
persons  and  things.  ^Door'  is  twice  mentioned  to- 
wards the  end  of  the  report,  but,  in  the  sense  in 
which  it  is  used,  is  equivalent  to  ^doorway'  which 
has  previously  received  a  mark. 

The  actions  noted  are  as  follows:  the  boy  is  *eat- 
ng'  and  ^sitting';  the  lady  is  lifting  up'  the  bowl. 

Positional  references  are  numerous  and  yield  a 
total  of  12  marks. 

There  is  a  considerable  number  of  correct  quali- 
fications: the  bowl  is  a  ^big'  one;  the  lady's  apron 
is  ^red;'  the  flower  is  ^red;'  the  boy's  shoes  are 
^ black;'  there  is  ^a  lot  of  milk  in  the  bowl  (the  so 
called  bowl  may  perhaps  fairly  be  regarded  as  full 
of  milk) ;  and  the  cake  the  boy  is  eating  is  *  brown' 
and  ^yellow;'  a  total  of  9  marks.  It  was  thought 
that  the  flower-pot  cannot  justly  be  regarded  as  a 
*big'  one,  so  that  no  mark  was  given  for  this  qualifi- 


116  CHILDREN'S   PERCEPTIONS 

cation.      One    interesting    and    unusual    adverbial 
modification  has  not  yet  been  mentioned :  the  lady  is 

^just'  lifting  the  bowl.     Winifred  S totals  46 

marks  for  her  first  report. 

Winifred  S 's  Second  Spontaneous  Report. 

^^  There  was  a  knife  on  the  table  and  there  was  a 
little  boy  eating  a  cake  sitting  on  a  high  chair  and 
there  was  a  big  jug  on  the  floor  and  a  little  stool. 
There  ivas  a  lady  lifting  up  a  bowl  and  there  was  a 
flower-pot.  It  had  a  flower  in — it  was  standing  on  a 
box.  The  flower  was  red  and  the  leaves  were  green 
and  black.  There  was  a  door  and  it  was  open.  You 
could  see  the  sky  through  the  door.  And  the  jug 
was  green.  The  little  boy  had  red  stockings.  The 
sky  was  blue  and  ivhite.  The  little  stool  was  tipped 
up  on  one  side.  The  handle  of  the  knife  was  brown 
and  the  lady's  hair  was  brown.  She  had  on  a  blue 
skirt  and  blouse  and  she  had  on  a  red  apron.  Shdi 
was  just  going  to  turn  round.  The  little  boy's  cake 
had  got  currants  in  it.  The  flower-pot  was  brown. 
The  bowl  had  milk  in.  The  cake  was  yellow  and 
brown.  The  knife  was  white  and  brown  with  a  little 
black  round  the  end.  The  door  was  only  opened  a 
little  way.  The  floor  was  brown.  The  flower-pot 
was  in  a  little  saucer.^ ^ 

Marking  of  Winifred  S 's  Second  Report. 

Marks  for  the  enumeration  of  persons  and  things 
amount  to  27,  in  which  is  included  *milk'  (evidently 
the  yellowish  pink  appearance  of  the  top  of  the  loaf) 
— an  improvement  of  6  marks  on  the  first  report. 

Of  activities  the  following  are  mentioned :  the  boy 


SECOND  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS 


117 


4s  eating'  and  ^sitting,'  and  the  lady  is  lifting  up* 
a  bowl.  Winifred  says  also  that  *  ^  she  was  just  going 
to  turn  round,"  but  there  does  not  seem  any  obser- 
vational evidence  for  this,  so  no  mark  was  awarded. 

As  before,  positional  references  are  numerous; 
in  fact,  they  now  warrant  14  marks,  an  improvement 
of  two  upon  the  earlier  record. 

But  again  as  before,  the  excellence  of  Winifred's 
report  lies  in  the  large  number  of  correct  qualifica- 
tions (mostly  colorings)  which  she  gives.  A  total 
of  21  marks  is  awarded  for  these  adjectival  and  ad- 
verbial qualifications — a  gain  of  13  marks  on  the 
first  week's  record. 

Winifred's  total  mark  for  her  second  report  is  65, 
an  extremely  high  mark,  higher  indeed  than  that  of 
any  other  child  tested  in  this,  or  in  the  preceding 
infants'  school. 


WiNiFBED  S 's  First  and  Second  Sets  of  Answers  Given  on 

Tuesdays,  October  4th  and  11th,  Immediately 
After  the  Reports. 


Questions. 

1.  Which  side  of  the  table 

was    the    lady    stand- 
ing? 

2.  What  was  she  doing? 


3.  How  was  the  lady  hold- 

ing what  she  had  in 
her  hand? 

4.  Had    the    lady    anything 

else  in  her  hand  be- 
sides what  you  have 
told  me  about? 

5.  What    clothes    was    the 

lady  wearing? 


First  Set  of 
Answers. 


Second  Set  of 
Answers. 


On  the  right  side  On  the  right  side 
(showed  right-  (showed  right- 
ly). Vy)> 

She  was  just  pick-  She  was  lifting  up 

ing    up    the    tig  the  howl, 
howl. 

Like  that   (showed  With  her  two  hands 

wrongly).  (showed   torong- 

ly). 

No.  No. 


She     had     a     red  She     had     a     red 

apron  on   and  a  apron   on  and  a 

hlue    hlouse    and  hlue    hlouse    and 

skirt.  shirt. 


118 


CHILDREN  S   PERCEPTIONS 


Questions. 

6.  What  sort  of  a  hat  had 

she? 

7.  What   was   she    wearing 

on  her  feet? 

8.  Could  you  see  her  feet? 

9.  Had   she   a   pinafore   or 

apron  on? 

10.  Had  she  a  frock  on? 

11.  What  color  was  the  top 

part  of  her  dress? 

12.  What   was  the   color   of 

her  skirt? 

13.  What     color     was     her 

apron? 

14.  What     color    were     her 

boots  or  shoes. 

15.  What     color     was     the 

lady's  hair? 

16.  What   was   the   boy   do- 

ing? 


17.  How  was  he  holding  it? 


18.  Where    were    the    boy's 

feet? 

19.  What    clothes    was    the 

boy  wearing? 


FiBST  Set  of 
Answers. 


Second  Set  of 
Answers. 


She  hadn't  got  any  She  didn't  have  any 

hat  on,  hat  on. 

I  couldn't  see.  I  couldn't  see  any- 
thing on  her  feet. 

No.  No. 

YeSf  a  red  one.  Yes. 

She     had     a     hlue  No,  she  had  only  a 

hlouse  and  skirt.  hlouse  and  skirt. 

Blue.  Blue. 


Blue,     the     same     Blue. 

color. 
Red.  Red. 

I    didn't    see    the  I    didn't    see    any 

hoots.  hoots. 

Brown.  Brown. 


Sitting   up   on   the 
chair     with     his 
feet  tucked  in  the 
rail   eating   a 
cake. 

In  his  two  hands 
(showed  wrong- 
ly)^ 

They  were  tucked 
inside  the  rail  of 
the  chair. 

He  had  a  hlue  coat 
on,  and  red  trous- 
ers and  stockings 
and  hlack  shoes. 


Eating  a  cake. 


20.  What     color     was     the  Blue. 

boy's  coat? 

21.  What     color     were     his   Red. 

trousers? 

22.  What     color     were     his  Black. 

boots  or  shoes? 

23.  What     color     were     his   Red. 

stockings? 

24.  What  color  was  his  hair? 

25.  What  sort  of  boots  had 

he? 


In  his  two  hands 
(showed  wrong- 
ly)^ 

They  were  tucked 
inside  the  rail  of 
the  chair. 

He     had     a     hlue 
jacket  on  and  red 
trousers,     red 
stockings  and 
hlack  shoes. 

Blue. 

Red. 

Black. 

Red. 


Brown.  Brown. 

They     were     little  They  were  pointed 

shoes,      pointed         shoes. 

ones. 


SECOND  SEBIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS 


119 


Questions. 


First  Set  of 
Answers. 


26. 
27. 


28. 
29. 

30. 


31. 
32. 


33. 
34. 

35. 


36. 
37. 

38. 

39. 

40. 

41. 

42. 

43. 
44. 

45. 

46. 
47. 


What  sort  of  shoes  had  Pointed  ones, 

he? 
Did    you     see    anything 

under  the  boy's  chair? 


Second  Set  of 
Answers. 

Pointed  shoes. 


Did  you  see  a  jug? 
What  color  was  it? 

Did  you  see  anything  on 
the  floor  near  the  jug, 
and  if  you  did,  what 
was  it? 

What  color  was  the  ta- 
ble? 

What  else  was  there  on 
the  table  besides  what 
the  lady  was  holding? 

Did  you  see  a  knife? 

Whereabouts  on  the  ta- 
ble was  it? 

What  color  was  the 
knife? 

Did    you    see    a    flower- 
pot? 
Where  was  it? 


What     color     were     the 

flowers? 
How  many  flowers  were 

there? 
What     color     were     the 

leaves? 
How  many   leaves   were 

there? 
What     color     was     the 

flower-pot? 
What  color  was  the  box? 
What  did  you  see  through 

the  open  window? 
What  did  you  see  through 

the  open  door? 
Did  you  see  a  window? 
What     color     were     the 

walls  of  the  room? 


The  jug  was  near  I  saw  the  jug  near. 

his  chair  and  the 

Uttle  stool. 

Yes.  Yes. 

Green  with  a  Uttle   Green    with    some 

hlack  on.  hlack  on. 

A  little  stool.  I  saw  a  little  stool. 


Brown. 

I  didn't  see. 


Yes. 

Just  there  {showed 
rightly). 

It     had     a     white 
blade     and     a 
brown  handle. 

Yes. 

It  was  on  a  box. 


Red. 

Four. 

Green  and  black. 

Five. 

Brown. 

A  little  bit  yellow. 
I  didnH  see  a  win- 
dow. 
I  could  see  the  sky. 

No. 
Brown. 


Brown. 
A  knife. 

Yes. 

Just  there  {showed 
rightly). 

It  was  brown  and 
white  with  a  lit- 
tle black  on. 

Yes. 

It  was  standing  on 
a  boXy  near  the 
mother. 

Bed. 

I  don't  know. 

Black  and  green. 

A  lot  of  leaves. 

A  dark  brown. 

White. 

I  didn't  see  a  win- 
dow. 
I  could  see  the  sky. 

No. 
Brown. 


120  CHILDBEN^S   PERCEPTIONS 

First  Set  of  Second  Set  of 

Questions.  Answers.  Answers. 

48.  What  color  was  the  car-   The    floor    was         There   wasn't    any 

pet?  hrown.     I  dddnH       carpet  there, 

see  a  carpet. 

49.  Did  you  see  a  carpet?         No.  No. 

50.  What  room  was  it?  A  kitchen.  A  kitchen. 

Marking  of  Winifred  8 's  First  and  Second  Sets 

of  Answers. 

These  questions  are  excellently  answered.    Wini- 
fred S is  one  of  the  best  of  the  children  in  this 

group  in  interrogatory  work.  One  of  the  children  is 
somewhat  better  and  one  other  is  equal  to  Winifred. 
Little  comment  is  demanded  by  her  answers.  She 
does  not  know  how  the  lady  was  holding  the  ^bowP 
(the  hemispherical  loaf) ;  she  does  not  know  how 
the  boy  was  holding  his  piece  of  cake,  she  does 
not  know  how  many  flowers  there  were  on  the 
plant,  nor  how  many  leaves  there  were;  nor  was 
she  at  all  clear  as  to  the  woman's  feet.  But 
she  does  know  the  position  of  the  boy's  feet, 
and  the  position  of  the  knife  on  the  table;  she 
is  unusually  successful  in  resisting  suggestions 
which  would  have  led  her  astray;  she  is  quite 
sure  the  woman  had  no  hat,  that  there  was  no 
window,  and  that  there  was  no  carpet  on  the  floor ; 
and,  though  her  observations  and  memories  of  color 
are  not  invariably  correct,  they  are  extremely  good, 
bearing  in  mind,  as  we  always  must,  that  one  min- 
ute's observation  has  supplied  all  the  information. 
All  the  answers  of  the  first  week  are  identical  in 
meaning,  (though  there  is  more  variation  of  phrase 
than  is  usual  with  young  children)  with  those  of  the 


SECOND  SEKIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS  121 

second  week,  except  two.  She  did  not  remember  at 
once  that  there  was  a  knife  on  the  table ;  the  question 
^^did  you  see  a  knife  T'  probably  reinforced  the 
memory  of  the  evanescent  perception,  for  the  knife 
was  correctly  located  immediately  after.  But  in  one 
respect  Winifred's  answers  were  less  satisfactory 
the  second  week,  for  the  color  of  the  box  which  was 
correctly  asserted  the  first  week  to  be  a  '4ittle  bit 
yellow,"  had  faded  away  to  ^ white'  a  week  later. 
Thirty-nine  marks  were  obtained  for  the  first  set  of 
auswers  and  the  same  number  for  the  second. 

Winifred  8 's  Self -Correction. 

^^I  made  a  mistake  with  the  color  of  the  box — it  is 
yelloiv  with  a  little  black  on.  There  are  three  flowers 
and  nine  leaves.  The  floor  is  yellow.  The  jug  is 
under  the  chair.  The  sky  is  nearly  all  white.  The 
chair  isnH  high.  I  thought  the  seat  was  higher  up. 
His  coat  is  green  and  his  stockings  are  blue.  The 
bowl  had  a  little  red  on.^' 

Marking  of  Winifred  S 's  Self -Correction. 

Winifred  was  wrong  about  the  color  of  the  box 
on  the  occasion  of  the  second  interrogatory  only,  but 
the  statement  is  admitted  as  a  correction.  The 
leaves  and  flowers  have  now  been  counted.  No  ques- 
tion has  been  asked  as  to  the  color  of  the  floor,  and 
brown  has  already  been  accepted  as  a  correct  state- 
ment on  the  matter.  The  jug  is  now  rightly  placed 
under  the  chair,  not  near  the  chair  as  before.  In 
her  second  report,  Winifred  had  said  the  sky  is  blue 
and  white ;  it  is  admittedly  a  correction  to  say  that 
it  is  nearly  all  white.    In  her  second  report,  she  had 


122  CHILDKEN^S   PEKCEPTIONS 

said  that  the  chair  the  boy  was  using  was  a  'high' 
one,  but  this  statement  is  now  corrected ;  she  thought 
the  seat  was  'higher  up.'  The  colors  of  the  boy's 
coat  and  stockings,  wrongly  given  throughout,  are 
now  corrected.  The  'bowl'  certainly  had  a  little  red 
on,  but  this  statement  appears  to  be  rather  an  ampli- 
fication than  a  correction,  and  there  is  no  indication 
that  it  is  the  insertion  of  a  known  omission,  so  no 
mark  is  given  for  it  as  a  self-correction.  Eight  marks 
are  obtained  for  self-correction,  the  average  mark 
for  the  group  being  7.3. 

TABLE  IX. 

Summarized  Results  from  the  Work  of  Seven-Year-Old 
Children,  School  B. 


^ame.                Yrs.  Mths.          um              £«        feM       a2«       m^.  mO 

Winifred  S 7          1       Standard  lb       46          39          65          39  8 

Edwin  H 7           3        Standard  lb       48          39           55          39  6 

Milly   B 7           4       Standard  la       23          24          27           27  9 

George  M 7           4       Standard  lb       33           35           52          31  7 

May  G 7           5        Standard  lb       29           37           47           37  6 

George  L 7          6       Standard  lb       43          34          62          31  7 

May    L 7           7       Standard  la       39          34           43           35  9 

George  B 7           9       Standard  la       35           41           38          38  6 

Winifred  F 7         11       Standard  la       49          33          52          35  8 

Jack  P 7        11       Standard  la       45          36          29          35  7 

Average 7          6                                    39.0       35.2       47.0       34.7  7.3 

Mean  variation                                                       7.2         3.2       10.2         3.0  1.0 
Coefficient  of 

variability..                                                           .18         .09         .21         .09  .13 

♦Standard  I  is  the  highest  grade  of  an  infants'  school ;  it  is  really 

the  commencement  of  the  senior-school  grading.     la  is  the  upper  and 
lb  is  the  lower  division. 

Comments  on  Table  IX. 
Even  a  cursory  glance  at  the  table  will  show  some 

apparent  discrepancies  with  the  results  which,  by 
now,  the  reader  will  confidently  expect. 


SECOND  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS  123 

The  self-corrections  are  slightly  less  than  those  of 
the  6-year-old  group;  so  are  the  marks  for  report- 
ing ;  whilst  in  the  interrogatories,  though  the  7-year- 
old  group  slightly  more  than  hold  their  own,  they  do 
not  show  the  improvement  we  naturally  expect. 
Within  the  group  itself,  there  is,  as  usual,  a  great 
improvement  shown  in  reporting,  but  there  is  no 
advance  from  the  first  week  to  the  second  in  the 
power  to  answer  questions ;  there  is  rather  a  slight 
decline ;  no  general  tendency  being  shown  either  way. 

Much  of  this  difference  is  due  to  Milly  B ,  who, 

though  7  years  and  4  months  old,  consistently,  ex- 
cept in  self-correction,  does  the  work  of  a  rather 
inferior  5-year-old  child ;  her  marks  are  practically 

identical  with  those  of  her  brother,  William  B , 

who  worked  in  the  5-year-old  group.    Jack  P- 


also  scored  a  quite  exceptionally  low  mark  in  his 
second  report,  29  only ;  whereas  he  had  scored  45  the 
first  time.  I  cannot  account  for  it ;  it  was  certainly 
not  due  to  f orgetfulness,  for  he  answered  his  second 
set  of  questions  as  well  as  his  first.  But  even  if  these 
marks  are  omitted,  the  7-year-old  group  quite  fails 
to  show  the  usual  improvement  over  the  children  of 
the  preceding  year.  An  attempt  to  explain  this  may, 
perhaps,  be  more  profitably  made  when  further  data 
have  been  collected. 

Summarized  Results  of  the  Work  of  the  Children  of 

School  B. 

A  comparison  between  the  average  results  of  the 
work  of  the  4,  5,  6,  and  7-year-old  children  may  most 
easily  be  made  by  means  of  the  following  table : 


124  CHILDKEN^S   PERCEPTIONS 

TABLE  X. 
SUMMABIZED    RESULTS    FROM    THE   WORK    OF    THE    ChILDBEN    OF 

School  B. 

t Average  Marks  for 


®2 

r-Average  Age.-^ 

< 

^S 

Yrs. 

Mths. 

4-5 

10 

4 

6.9 

17.2 

5—6 

10 

5 

6.3 

27.8 

6—7 

10 

6 

5.9 

41.4 

7-« 

10 

7 

6.1 

39.0 

■M  -M  q 

bo  bO  S 

+^^  So  9*^  .2 

^-2  Sa  8^  ^ii 

s-ip  o)'^  <Dfl  a»o 

faM  02«  CC^iJ  DQO 

23.5  2J.3  26.8  4.6 

29.2  37.1  32.0  6.2 

33.9  50.6  35.0  7.6 

35.2  47.0  34.7  7.S 


Comments  on  Table  X. 

1.  There  is  a  gradual  advance  in  all  the  work  as 
the  children  increase  in  age  and  ability ;  but  this  ad- 
vance is  not  evident  in  the  work  of  the  7-year-old 
children  of  this  school  as  compared  with  that  of  the 
6-year-old  children. 

2.  Between  the  ages  of  4  and  7,  the  capacity  to 
report  and  to  make  self-corrections  appears  to  be 
doubled,  and  the  power  of  accurate  observation  and 
memory  appears  to  show  an  increase  of  about  one- 
and-a-half  times. 

3.  The  power  of  reporting,  therefore,  grows 
much  more  rapidly  than  the  power  of  observation 
in  the  narrower  sense.  This  conclusion  might  in- 
deed be  quite  independently  arrived  at  by  noticing 
the  great  improvement  shown  in  the  reporting  from 
week  to  week  and  comparing  it  with  the  small  im- 
provement shown  in  the  answers  to  the  interroga- 
tories. 

4.  The  self-corrections,  as  in  the  preceding 
school,  are  few  in  number  at  the  age  of  4  and  rise 
gradually,  year  by  year,  showing  a  slight  drop  at  the 
age  of  7. 


SECOND  SEEIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS  125 

5.  The  general  rise  from  the  first  to  the  second 
interrogatory  shows  that  the  demand  for  the  pro- 
duction and  reproduction  of  what  was  learnt  by  the 
original  observation  has  not  rendered  the  memory 
of  it  more,  but  less  imperfect.  The  plant  metaphor 
often  used  in  this  connection,  namely,  that  we  must 
not  pull  up  our  knowledge  to  see  how  it  is  growing, 
utterly  breaks  down :  the  reproductive  process  here 
employed  is  stimulating  and  ^fixing'  in  its  nature, 
the  very  reverse  of  what  is  implied  by  the  analogy 
of  the  plant. 

Dependence  of  these  results  on  Social  Class. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  two  excellent  schools 
had  been  chosen  to  do  this  work — chosen  because  it 
was  believed  that  there  was  no  other  relevant  differ- 
ence between  them  than  their  location.  One  was 
situated  in  a  poor  neighborhood  of  the  south-west 
of  London,  and  the  other  on  the  same  side  of  London, 
about  three  or  four  miles  distant  from  the  first  and 
in  a  rather  good  suburban  neighborhood.  Looking 
at  pictures  and  talking  about  them  are  obviously 
functions  which  are  singularly  open  to  ^home-train- 
ing,' or  the  like  of  it,  so  that  we  must  beware  lest 
we  draw  inferences  as  to  greater  natural  ability  on 
the  part  of  the  children  in  the  good  neighborhood 
which  the  data  of  this  experiment  do  not  of  them- 
selves justify.  I  say  this  in  the  full  belief  that  the 
difference  is  a  natural  rather  than  a  nurtural  one, 
though  the  result  is  compounded  of  both  factors.* 


*W.  H.  Winch,  Social  Class  and  Mental  Proficiency  in  Elementary 
School  Children.  Journal  of  Experimental  Pedagogy^  March  and  Na^ 
vember,  1911. 


126  CHILDREN'S   PERCEPTIONS 

But,  whether  natural  or  the  effect  of  nurture,  the 
difference,  if  there  be  one,  is  significant  for  educa- 
tional theory.  It  may  be  well,  however,  to  establish 
the  fact  of  difference  first. 

TABLE  XL 

The  Woek  of  the  Childben  of  School  A  and  School  B  Compared, 
Age  by  Age.* 

, — First — ^  t First x  ^Second-^  , — Second — ^        Self- 
Report.  Interrogatory,       Report.  Interrogatory.  Correction. 
Ages.           A.          B.          A.         B.          A.         B.  A.  B.  A.        B. 
3—4...          8.3        ....        13.2       ....  10.9        ....  15.8        ....  0.0 
4—5...       15.1       17.2       21.6       23.5  19.4       23.3  24.2       26.8  3.2       4.6 
5—6...       25.3       27.8       26.2       29.2  31.9       37.1  28.5       32.0  4.4       6.2 
6—7...       28.7       41.4       29.6       33.9  35.9       50.6  31.5       35.0  7.1       7.0 
7—8...       32.3       39.0       33.5       35.2  43.3       47.0  34.5       34.7  6.0       7.3 


♦It  will  be  remembered  that  there  were  not  enough  three-year-old 
children  in  School  B  to  enable  us  to  take  a  fair  sample  of  this  age. 

It  may  also  be  of  interest  if  I  show  the  average 
marks  of  the  40  children  from  4  to  7  years  of  age  of 
School  A  as  compared  with  those  of  the  40  children 
of  corresponding  ages  in  School  B. 

In  the  First  Eeport  the  children  of  School  A 
scored  an  average  mark  of  25.3  as  compared  with 
31.4  for  School  B :  for  the  Second  Eeport  the  corre- 
sponding marks  were  32.6  and  39.5 :  in  the  First  In- 
terrogatory 27.8  and  30.4:  in  the  Second  Interroga- 
tory 29.8  and  32.1 :  and  for  the  Self-Corrections  5.1 
and  6.4. 

It  is  quite  obvions  from  the  fore-going  table  that 
we  are  in  the  presence  of  some  common  factor  which 
is  operating  throughout  to  the  advantage  of  School 
B ;  and  I  have  suggested  that  this  result  arises  from 
the  superior  social  class  of  the  children  attending  it ; 
for  in  length  of  school  life  the  children  of  School  B 
are  about  a  year  less  than  in  School  A.    If  this  be 


SECOND  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS  127 

the  case,  it  seems  that  our  educational  organization 
should  take  definite  count  of  this  difference  in  ability 
at  a  very  early  age.  Schools  in  poor  neighborhoods 
must  have  a  somewhat  lighter,  or  at  least  a  some- 
what different  curriculum  from  the  very  first  years 
of  school  life. 


CHAPTEE  V. 

THIRD   AND  FOURTH    SERIES   OF   EXPERIMENTS. 
SCHOOL  C,  BOYS  AND  GIRLS. 

The  third  and  fourth  series  of  experiments  were 
carried  out  in  the  boys'  and  girls'  departments  of  a 
school  in  the  sonth-west  of  London  in  a  neighborhood 
decidedly  superior  to  that  of  School  A,  but  inferior 
to  that  of  School  B.  All  the  children  in  the  school 
worked  the  exercises,  but  those  of  the  few  7-year- 
old  children  were  not  included,  for,  at  this  period  of 
the  educational  year,  then  some  nine  months  from  its 
commencement,  the  7-year-old  children  (if  any)  in 
senior  departments  consist  of  children  quite  un- 
usually advanced  for  their  age,  and  no  useful  pur- 
pose would  be  served  by  including  them ;  their  work 
would  certainly  mislead  if  regarded  as  typical.  But 
all  the  children  from  eight  years  of  age  upwards  are 
represented  in  the  tables  which  will  follow,  so  that 
the  dangers  arising  from  unsatisfactory  sampling 
will  be  entirely  obviated. 

I.    Method  of  Procedure  in  the  Senior  Schools. 

Some  important  differences  in  the  present  pro- 
cedure should  at  once  be  mentioned,  before  indicat- 
ing the  elements  of  method  common  to  both  the  in- 

128 


THIBD  AND  FOUETH  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS       129 

f ants'  and  senior  schools  First  of  all,  the  children 
in  the  senior  schools  wrote  their  ansivers  them- 
selves; whilst  the  answers  of  the  younger  children 
had  been  written  down  for  them.  Secondly,  whilst 
the  children  of  7  years  and  under  were  dealt  with, 
one  by  one,  by  the  experimenter,  the  senior  children 
were  taken  in  classes  or  groups,  the  larger  classes 
being  divided  for  the  purpose  of  the  experiment. 
It  is  quite  true  that,  for  persons  unaccustomed  to 
deal  with  large  numbers  of  children,  there  is  much 
risk  in  a  procedure  which  does  not  allow  the  per- 
sonal observation  of  the  experimenter  to  each  child 
separately;  but  in  *good'  schools  there  is  so  little 
danger  arising  from  children's  inattention,  espe- 
cially to  an  interesting  matter  of  relative  novelty, 
that  the  results  are  often  more  regular  than  those  in 
which  each  child  works  separately  under  the  imme- 
diate supervision  of  the  experimenter. 

An  important  subsidiary  difference  arose  from  the 
employment  of  the  child's  own  writing.  It  would 
have  been  quite  impossible  for  the  younger  of  the 
senior  children  to  have  written  both  reports  and  an- 
swers consecutively,  so  that  the  actual  experiments 
covered  a  slightly  longer  time  than  those  in  the  In- 
fant Schools. 

A  second  important  difference  arose  from  the  mass 
method  of  procedure.  The  small  original  picture 
could  no  longer  be  used.  It  was  much  enlarged  so 
as  to  be  visible  to  a  whole  class  or  group  of  children 
at  the  same  time. 

Further  details  of  procedure  which,  as  will  be 
seen,  were  largely  identical  in  both  infants'  and 
senior  schools,  now  follow. 


130  CHILDREN'S   PERCEPTIONS 

1.  The  picture  was  so  arranged  that  it  could  be 
instantaneously  exposed  or  covered.  Before  it  was 
shown  to  the  children  they  were  told  that  they  were 
going  to  be  shown  a  picture  for  a  minute,  and  that 
immediately  afterwards  they  were  to  write  down  all 
that  they  could  remember  of  what  they  had  seen  in 
the  picture.  All  their  papers  were  prepared  before- 
hand, so  that  no  part  of  the  time  allotted  to  the  ex- 
perimental work  should  be  occupied  by  anything 
irrelevant.  After  the  picture  was  covered  each  child 
began  to  write,  and  made  a  First  Spontaneous  Ee- 
port ;  no  time  limit  was  imposed  for  this  exercise. 

2.  On  the  next  day  at  the  same  time  of  day,  fresh 
papers  having  been  prepared,  the  experimenter  said 
to  the  children:  ^^You  remember  the  picture  I 
showed  you  yesterday;  I  want  you  to  answer  some 
questions  I  am  going  to  ask  you  about  it.  Begin 
each  answer  on  a  fresh  line."  The  questions  were 
then  called  out  slowly,  one  by  one,  and  the  answers 
were  written  one  by  one. 

3.  Exactly  one  week  after  the  First  Eeport,  on 
the  same  day  of  the  week,  and  at  the  same  hour  of 
the  day,  fresh  papers  having  been  previously  pre- 
pared, the  children  were  required  to  make  a  Second 
Eeport,  not,  of  course,  being  made  aware  beforehand 
that  any  second  report  was  to  be  required  of  them. 
The  experimenter  said  to  the  children :  ^*  You  remem- 
ber the  picture  I  showed  you  last  week ;  I  want  you  to 
write  down  all  that  you  remember  to  have  seen  in  the 
picture."  No  time  limit  was  imposed  for  this  exer- 
cise. 

4.  On  the  next  day,  exactly  one  week  after  the 
questions  had  been  answered  for  the  first  time,  the 


THIED  AND  FOUBTH  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS        131 

experimenter  said  to  the  children,  ^*I  want  you  to 
answer  the  questions  about  the  picture  again.  Be- 
gin each  answer  on  a  separate  line."  Then,  as  be- 
fore, the  questions  were  called  out  one  by  one,  and 
the  answers  were  written  down,  one  by  one. 

5.  When  the  questions  had  been  answered  in  writ- 
ing for  the  second  time,  the  worked  papers  were  col- 
lected and  fresh  ones  supplied.  The  experimenter 
then  said:  ^^I  am  going  to  show  you  the  picture 
again,  and  I  want  each  of  you  to  remember  anything 
he  (or  she)  has  written  down  wrongly  before,  or 
omitted,  and  also  to  write  down  what  he  (or  she) 
ought  to  have  said."  No  time  limit  was  imposed 
for  the  exercise,  and  the  corrections  were  made 
whilst  the  picture  was  exposed  to  view. 

6.  It  was  impossible  so  to  arrange  that  every 
class  or  group  should  take  the  exercises  at  the  same 
time  of  day,  but  the  times  chosen  were  all  good  times 
of  the  day  pedagogically,  and  no  exercises  were 
taken  on  Mondays,  a  day  of  low  adaptation  to  mental 
work.  Also  great  care  was  exercised  in  order  that 
no  lesson  preceding  the  tests  should  involve  fatigue 
in  writing  or  practice  in  observation.  And  during 
the  period  of  the  experiment  no  lessons  were  given 
in  English  Composition,  oral  or  written,  nor  any 
exercises  in  unaided  observation. 

There  were,  therefore,  five  written  papers  for 
every  child  in  the  school,  both  boys  and  girls — a  First 
Report,  a  First  Interrogatory,  a  Second  Report,  a 
Second  Interrogatory  and  a  Self-Correction.  Each 
child's  papers  were  enclosed  within  one  cover,  so 
that  easy  references  might  be  made  from  one  test  to 
another  worked  by  the  same  child. 


132  CHILDBEN^S   PEKCEPTIONS 

II.     How  THE  WOKK  IN  BoYs'  AND  GiRLs'  ScHOOLS 

May  be  Compared. 

Before  attempting  to  summarize  the  results  and 
compare  them  with  those  of  the  younger  children, 
and  before  drawing  attention  to  the  comparative 
powers  of  boys  and  girls  in  work  of  this  kind,  I  shall 
give  an  example  from  each  class  or  standard.  The 
results  will  subsequently  be  given  in  standard- 
groups  and  likewise  in  age-groups.  Age  in  senior 
schools  is  not  so  useful  a  determinant  in  school  grad- 
ing as  it  is  in  infant  schools.  For  within  any  one 
school,  the  standard^  gradings,  provided  they  are 
made  properly  on  a  basis  of  general  ability,  are 
much  more  satisfactory  than  age  gradings.  But  if 
one  school  is  to  be  compared  with  another  (these 
two  departments,  boys'  and  girls',  are  really  sepa- 
rate schools  in  England)  the  standard  gradings  may 
well  be  dropped  or  made  subordinate,  and  groups 
of  corresponding  ages  substituted.  In  this  case, 
comparing  the  work  of  boys  with  that  of  girls,  the 
factor  of  social  class  may  be  ruled  out ;  for  the  boys 
and  girls  belong  to  the  same  families,  live  in  the 
same  neighborhood,  and  attend  the  same  school. 
Both  boys'  and  girls'  departments  are  of  good  peda- 
gogical efficiency.  In  the  work  of  the  infants '  schools 
previously  given,  I  refrained  from  making  compari- 
sons between  the  work  of  the  boys  and  the  work  of 
thei  girls;  the  risk  due  to  sampling  was,  in  my  judg- 
ment, too  great  to  allow  of  conclusions  of  high  prob- 
ability; but  no  such  risk  attaches  to  the  present  in- 
vestigation. 

♦The  term  ^standard'  is  here  used  in  the  English  sense,  the  equiva- 
lent of  a  school  grade  in  America. — Editor. 


THIRD  AND  FOURTH  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS        133 

But  there  is  a  factor  which  may  produce  variation 
apart  from  the  differing  natural  abilities  of  the  boys 
and  girls,  namely,  the  differing  sex  of  the  teachers ; 
for  the  boys  are  taught  by  men,  the  girls  by  women. 
And  it  is  well  to  have  the  relevant  possibilities  in 
mind  before  commencing  the  study  of  the  detailed 
results  of  the  work. 

The  instances  given  will  be  chosen  from  work 
typical  of  each  standard,  and  will  consist  of  the 
work  of  children  who  are  at  what  is  considered  in 
England  to  be  about  the  normative  age  for  the  given 
standard  or  grade. 

III.    The  Work  of  the  Standard  II  Boys 
AND  Girls. 

The  illustrative  work  first  given  is  that  of  Jessie 

1) ,  in  Standard  II,  aged  8  years  3  months.    The 

reports  and  answers  are  printed  exactly  as  written, 
with  all  errors,  orthographical  and  otherwise. 

Jessie  D 's  First  Report. 

'^In  the  picture  that  tve  was  looking  at  was  a  lit- 
tle boy  on  a  chair  eatting  a  slice  of  cake.  On  the 
table  there  is  a  knife  the  mother  is  standing  by  the 
right  side  of  the  table  with  a  bowl  between  her  hands. 
Beside  the  boys  chair  there  is  a  green  pot  on  the 
other  side  were  the  mother  is  standing  ther  is  a 
brown  flower  pot  with  a  lot  of  green  leaves.  The 
mother  has  a  white  lace  bonit  and  a  blue  aprin  with 
white  spots.  The  boy  looks  nice  and  kind,  and  the 
mother  looks  nice  and  kind.  They  both  look  as  if 
they  both  live  happily  to  gether,  and  do  not  quorrel 
with  one  an  other.     The  boy  looks  thin  and  the 


134  CHILDEEN^S   PEKCEPTIONS 

mother  looks  fat.    I  cannot  tell  you  anything  about 
the  father  because  he  is  not  their." 

Marking  of  Jessie  D 's  First  Report. 

Esthetic  and  moral  terms  figure  in  this  report, 
and  Jessie  provides  the  lady  with  a  bonnet  and  an 
appropriately  colored  apron.  Marks  are  given  for 
the  enumeration  of  kittle  boy/  ^ chair,'  ^ slice  of  cake,' 
*  table,'  ^  knife,'  *  mother,'  ^bowl,'  ^  hands,'  *pot,' 
^flower-pot,'  ^leaves,'  ^ apron;'  a  total  of  12  marks. 

The  boy  is  *  eating'  and  the  mother  is  ^standing.' 
The  positional  references  are  as  follow:  the  boy  is 
^on'  the  chair;  a  knife  is  ^on'  the  table;  the  mother 
is  standing  ^by  the  right'  of  the  table  and  the  bowl 
is  ^between'  her  hands;  the  pot  is  *  beside'  the  chair: 
the  flower  pot  is  *on  the  other  side,'  the  side  'where 
the  mother  is  standing;'  a  total  of  7. 

The  descriptive  qualifications  are  as  follow:  the 
pot  is  'green;'  the  flower-pot  is  'brown;'  the  leaves 
are  'green'  and  there  are  'a  lot'  of  them;  the  boy  is 
'nice  and  kind;'  the  mother  is  'nice  and  kind;'  the 
mother  looks  'fat;'  the  boy  looks  'thin;'  and  they 
appear  to  live  'happily;'  a  total  of  11  marks. 

Jessie  D thus  scores  a  total  of  32  marks  for 

her  first  report. 

Jessie  D 's  Second  Report. 

^^In  the  picture  that  we  were  looking  at  was  a 
lady  on  the  right-hand  side  of  the  table  with  a  bowl 
in  her  two  hands.  On  a  box  beside  the  lady  was  a 
brown  flower-pot.  It  didnH  have  any  flowers  but  it 
had  some  green  leaves.  On  the  other  side  of  the 
table  was  a  little  boy  sitting  on  a  chair.    Beside  the 


THIRD  AND  FOURTH  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS        135 

hoy^s  chair  there  is  a  green  pot.  On  the  table  there 
is  a  knife.  The  mother  has  a  black  scourt  {skirt^  a 
blue  aprin  with  white  spots  she  has  a  lace  bonit.  The 
boy  is  eating  a  slice  of  cake.  The  door  was  wide 
open  and  the  windoiv  was  shut.  The  boy  had  a 
brown  jacket  and  a  brown  coat  and  a  brown  waist- 
coat. And  the  boy  is  opening  his  mouth  wide.  The 
colour  of  the  bowl  is  brown  the  colour  of  the  bowl 
inside  is  a  kind  of  yellowish  white.  The  kind  of  cake 
that  the  boy  is  [eating]  is  yellow  with  currants.  The 
cealing  is  paited  blue.  The  knife  has  a  yellow 
handle,  the  side  in  which  you  have  to  cut  with  is 
made  of  solid?  silver.  The  lady  has  brown  slipers. 
The  boy  has  heavy  lace  up  hoots.  The  lady  has  grey 
hair  and  the  little  boy  has  brown  hair.  I  cannot  tell 
you  anything  about  the  mother  and  the  little  boy 
father,  because  he  is  not  there.'' 

Marking  of  Jessie  D 's  Second  Report. 

The  influence  of  the  preceding  week's  questioning 
seems  obvious,  but  rather  in  the  direction  of  induc- 
ing the  child  to  make  statements  of  some  kind  than 
in  improving  the  accuracy;  though,  as  the  answers 
to  the  second  set  of  questions  will  show,  some  ad- 
vance in  accuracy  has  been  made.  The  esthetic  and 
moral  judgments  have  disappeared,  but  there  is 
more  enumeration  and  descriptive  qualifications  of 
things  than  before.  Of  enumerations  we  have  23. 
Three  actions  are  included:  the  boy  is  *  sitting'  and 
'eating'  and  'opening  his  mouth.'  Of  positional  ref- 
erences there  are  10. 

The  descriptive  qualifications  are  as  follow:  the 
flower-pot  is  'brown;'  the  leaves  are  'green;'  the  pot 


136 


CHILDKEN  S   PERCEPTIONS 


(jug)  is  'green;'  the  bowl  (the  hemispherical  loaf) 
is  *  brown,'  and  the  inside  of  it  is  'yellowish  white;' 
the  cutting  part  of  the  knife  is  'silver'  (it  is  hard  to 
believe  that  the  question  stop  after  the  word  'solid' 
in  Jessie's  report  has  its  usual  signification);  and 
the  boy  has  'brown'  hair;  a  total  of  7  marks. 

For  the  second  report,  therefore,  43  marks  are 
obtained,  showing  an  improvement  on  the  first  report 
beyond  the  average  for  the  children  of  this  class. 


Jessie  D 's  First 

AND  Second  Sets 

of  Answers. 

First  Set  of 

Second  Set  of 

Questions. 

Answers. 

Answers. 

1. 

Which  side  of  the  table 
was    the    lady    stand- 
ing? 

right  side. 

The  right  side. 

2. 

What  was  she  doing? 

Standing, 

holding  a  bowl. 

3. 

How    was    she    holding 
what   she   had   in   her 
hand? 

With  her  hands. 

with  her  two  hands. 

4. 

Had   the    lady   anything 
else  in  her  hands? 

No, 

No. 

5. 

What    clothes    was    the 

A  aprin. 

scuort,  a  brouce,  a 

lady  wearing? 

aprin,  a  bonit. 

6. 

What  sort  of  a  hat  had 
she? 

a  lace  tonit. 

a  lace  bonit. 

7. 

What   was   she    wearing 
on  her  feet? 

she  had  shoes. 

slippers  on  her  feet. 

8. 

Could  you  see  them? 

No, 

I  could  not. 

9. 

Had   she   a   pinafore   or 
apron  on? 

Yes. 

Yes. 

10. 

Had  she  a  frock  on? 

Yes, 

Yes, 

11. 

What     color     was     her 
blouse  or  the  top  part 
of  her  frock? 

red,  white  spots. 

blue. 

12. 

What     color     was     her 
skirt? 

black. 

black  skirt. 

13. 

What     color     was     her 

blue  white  spots. 

blue  white  spots 

apron  or  pinafore? 

Aprin. 

14. 

What     color     were     her 

black. 

shoes  black. 

boots  or  shoes? 

15. 

What  color  was  her  hair? 

brown. 

gray  hair. 

THIRD  AND  FOURTH  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS       137 


16.  What   was   the   boy   do- 
17, 


mgi 


How  was  he  holding 
what  he  had  in  his 
hand? 

18.  Where    were    the    boy*s 

feet? 

19.  What    clothes    was    the 

boy  wearing? 

20.  What     color     was     the 

boy's  coat  or  jacket? 

21.  What     color     were     the 

boy's  trousers  or  knick- 
erbockers? 

22.  What     color     were     the 

boy's  boots  or  shoes? 

23.  What     color     were     the 

boy's  stockings? 

24.  What  color  was  his  hair? 

25.  What  sort  of  boots  had 

the  boy? 

26.  What  sort  of  shoes  had 

the  boy? 

27.  Did    you     see    anything 

under  the  boy's  chair? 

28.  Did   you    see    a   jug   or 

vase? 

29.  What  color  was  the  jug 

or  vase? 

30.  Did  you  see  anything  on 

the  floor  near  the  jug 
or  vase,  and  if  you  did, 
what  was  it? 

31.  What  color  was  the  ta- 

ble? 

32.  What  else  was  there  on 

the  table  beside  the 
thing  the  lady  was 
holding? 

33.  Did  you  see  a  knife? 

34.  Whereabouts  on  the  ta- 

ble was  it? 

35.  What     color     was     the 

knife? 

36.  Did    you    see    a    flower- 

pot? 

37.  Where  was  it? 


eating    a    slice    of 

cake, 
with  two  hands. 

eating    a    slice    of 

cake, 
with  two  hands. 

hy  the  legs  of  the 
talle. 

in  a  suet  and  trous- 
ers. 

hrown. 

helow  the  chair, 

gaket    hoots    troup- 
ers waistcoat, 
hrown  jacket. 

'brown  trousers. 

hrown  trousers. 

hlacJc  hoots. 

hlack  hoots. 

Hack  stockings. 

hlack  stockings. 

brown  hair, 
lace  up  hoots. 

hlack  hair, 
heavy  hoots. 

know  shoes. 

no  shoes. 

No. 

Yes,                         ^ 

Yes. 

Yes. 

a  green  jug. 

green  jug. 

No. 

No, 

a  hrown  tahle. 

hroum  tahle. 

nothing  else. 

a  knife. 

Yes. 

hy  the  hoy. 

Yes. 

hy  the  hoy. 

yellow  handle. 

yellow. 

Yes. 

Yes. 

on  a  hox. 

on  a  how. 

138 


CHILDREN  S   PERCEPTIONS 


38.  What     color     were     the 

flowers  ? 

39.  How  many  flowers  were 

there? 

40.  What     color     were     the 

leaves? 

41.  How  many   leaves  were 

there? 

42.  What     color     was     the 

flower-pot  ? 

43.  What  color  was  the  box  ? 

44.  What  did  you  see  through 

the  open  window? 

45.  What  did  you  see  through 

the  open  door? 

46.  Did  you  see  a  window? 

47.  What     color     were     the 

walls  of  the  room? 

48.  What  color  was  the  car- 

pet? 
49. 'Did  you  see  a  carpet? 
50.  What  room  was  it? 


green  -flower. 

a  noher   inumher'], 

green  leaves, 

six  leaves. 

hrown  flower-pot. 

yellow  hose, 
nothing. 

nothing. 

Yes. 

I  do  not  know. 

I  do  not  know. 

Yes. 

Kitchen  room. 


no  flowers. 

I  do  not  no. 

green  leaves  . 

6  leaves. 

hrown  pot. 

yellow  how. 
nothing. 

nothing. 

Yes. 

red  walls. 

I  do  not  know. 

Yes. 
Kitchen. 


Marking  of  Jessie  D 's  First  and  Second  Sets  of 

Answers. 

Very  little  comment  is  needed,  but  one  general 
observation  must  be  made.  The  answers  to  two  of 
the  position  questions,  the  first  one  referring  to  the 
way  in  which  the  lady  was  holding  the  loaf  and  the 
second  one  to  the  way  the  boy  was  holding  his  piece 
of  bread,  were  almost  invariably  wrong;  and  the 
question  arose  whether  this  was  due  to  the  difficulty 
of  writing  down  an  intelligible  and  accurate  answer. 
To  test  this  point,  a  large  sample  was  taken  from 
several  classes,  and  the  children  were  questioned 
separately  one  by  one.  In  one  or  two  ( !)  cases  only 
did  the  child  know  the  answers,  though  even  then 
unable  apparently  to  express  them  in  writing.  The 
marks  for  the  first  set  of  answers  total  25,  and  for 


THIRD  AND  FOURTH  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS        139 

the  second  set  of  answers  26.  If  these  are  average 
marks,  as  they  are,  for  girls  of  this  age,  it  is  quite 
obvious  that  for  the  observation  of  such  a  picture 
as  the  one  given,  which  we  may  call  a  domestic  in- 
terior, the  8-year-old  child  is  no  further  forward 
than  5-year-old  children — indeed,  is  less  forward. 
But,  of  course,  there  are  two  conditions  of  the 
method  which  render  exact  comparison  impossible; 
the  older  children  had  to  write  their  answers  and 
they  wrote  them  on  the  day  following  their  report 
and  not  immediately  after  it,  whereas  the  younger 
children  had  their  answers  written  for  them  and 
gave  their  first  set  of  answers  immediately  after 
their  first  report.  I  emphasize  once  more  these  dif- 
ferences in  conditions  because  they  would  usually  be 
supposed  to  make  a  considerable  difference  to  the 
accuracy  of  the  answers.  Personally,  I  think  their 
influence  is  slight.  Children  often  remember  more 
the  day,  or  several  days,  after  an  experience  (if 
they  have  given  much  attention  to  it)  than  they  do 
immediately  after  the  actual  experience;  and  the 
rate  at  which  the  questions  were  asked  and  the  an- 
swers written  gave  little  opportunity  for  manual 
fatigue,  though  there  is  necessarily  some  dispersal 
of  attention  caused  by  the  writing  process.  Fatigue 
due  to  writing  is  much  more  likely  to  operate  in  the 
reports;  but  in  the  capacity  to  report,  the  8-year- 
old  children  are  found  superior  to  the  5-year-old 
children,  and,  indeed,  superior  in  their  first  report 
to  the  7-year-old  children  of  School  A.  I  briefly  dis- 
cuss these  possibilities  at  this  juncture  because  any- 
one who  reads  Jessie  D 's  work,  even  hurriedly, 

will  be  struck  by  the  absence  of  that  improvement 


140  CHILDREN'S   PERCEPTIONS 

with  age  which  the  preceding  illustrations,  as  well  as 
the  tabulated  figures  previously  given,  will  by  now 
have  led  him  to  expect.  Some  of  Jessie's  answers 
call  for  special  comment.  The  knife  came  in  more 
decidedly  the  second  week,  but  she  had  apparently 
noticed  it  the  first  week,  unless  placing  it  by  the 
boy  was  a  '  lucky  shot. '  She  did  not  know  the  color 
of  the  handle,  but  by  this  time  no  reader  will  sup- 
pose that  a  thing  has  not  been  seen  because  its  color 
is  not  remembered,  and  of  course  the  knife  is  more 
likely  to  be  by  the  lady,  for  it  is  she  who  cuts  the 
cake,  though  the  boy  is  ^eating'  it.  The  color  of  the 
bodice  was  rightly  given  the  second  week,  though 
wrongly  the  week  before ;  but  the  color  of  the  hair, 
which  was  given  as  ^ brown'  both  for  the  woman  and 
the  boy  at  the  first  interrogation,  became  ^ black'  for 
the  boy  and  ^gray'  for  the  woman  the  week  after. 
Colors,  badly  observed,  appear  to  be  insecurely  re- 
membered, which  is  precisely  what  we  should  expect 
on  general  psychological  principles.  The  woman's 
clothes  were  more  accurately  given  the  second  week 
than  the  first — an  improvement  which  may  have 
been  due  to  the  suggestive  influence  of  the  questions 
of  the  first  interrogatory. 

Jessie  D 's  Self  Correction. 

^^I  said  the  flower-pot  was  hroivn  and  it  is  red.  I 
said  there  tvas  not  any  flowers  and  there  is  three. 
I  said  the  lady's  hair  was  grey  and  it  is  brown." 

Marking  of  Jessie  D 's  Self -Correction. 

Though  ^ brown'  has  been  allowed  as  a  correct  de- 
scription of  the  color  of  the  flower-pot,  ^red'  is  ac- 
cepted as  a  self-correction.    The  remaining  correc« 


THIRD  AND  FOURTH  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS        141 

tions  are  three  in  number ;  one  as  to  the  existence  of 
the  flowers,  one  as  to  their  number — a  correction  of 
omission,  and  one  as  to  the  color  of  the  woman's 
hair  which  was  wrongly  classed  in  the  second  in- 
terrogatory, though  rightly  given  the  week  before. 
Jessie  obtains  4  marks  for  self-correction,  slightly 
less  than  the  5-year-old  average  for  School  A. 

TABLE  XII. 
Scores  of  the  Standard  II  Children,  Both  Sexes,  School  C. 

ft  ft 

-1  -§  P  P   .1 

Average  Age.  S^  B^  ^^  U  ^^ 

Yrs.  Mths.  fep^  fe5  ^«  m^  m3 

34  Girls     8       10.9      Aver.  Mark 32.4  24.3  34.5  25.3  5.0 

Mean  Variation 7.7  2.8  7.0  3.8  1.8 

Coefficient  of  Variability..  .24  .12  .20  .15  .36 

49  Boys      8       11.3      Aver.  Mark 24.2  24.8  24.6  25.4  3.9 

Mean  Variation 7.0  5.0  7.2  5.0  1.8 

Coefficient  of  Variability. .  .29  .20  .29  .20  .46 

Comments  on  Table  XII, 
Though  the  boys  in  Standard  II  are  older  than  the 
girls,  there  is  little  doubt  that  the  girls  show  greater 
superiority  in  reporting  and  self-correction,  whilst 
in  their  capacity  to  answer  questions  on  what  they 
had  seen,  the  average  marks  of  boys  and  girls  are 
practically  identical,  though  amongst  the  boys  this 
capacity  is  much  more  variable.  Where  the  average 
marks  are  so  nearly  alike  it  will  be  necessary  to  com- 
pare by  age-groupings  rather  than  by  standard- 
groupings,  and  this  will  be  done  later  compendiously 
in  a  single  table ;  but  it  may  be  said  at  once  that,  at 
this  age,  the  linguistic  development  of  the  girls 
seems  superior  to  that  of  the  boys,  though  there  is 
practically  no  difference  in  their  powers  of  observa- 
tion as  measured  by  the  capacity  shown  in  their  in- 
terrogatories. 


142  childken's  perceptions 

IV.    The  Work  of  the  Standard  III  Boys  and 
Girls. 

I  give  one  complete  set  of  papers,  choosing  on  this 
occasion,  the  work  of  a  boy ;  after  which,  the  average 
marks  of  the  boys  and  girls  will  be  given  in  a  com- 
parative table  as  before.  The  work  selected  for  il- 
lustrative purposes  is  that  of  John  S ,  aged  9 

years  4  months. 

John  8 ^s  First  Spontaneous  Report. 

*' A  little  hoy  is  sitting  on  a  chair  near  a  table, 
and  his  mother  is  giving  him  some  food.  Under  the 
table  their  is  a  vase.  The  door  is  open  and  by  it  there 
is  a  box  and  on  the  box  is  a  flower-pot  with  a  plant 
in  it.  On  the  table  is  a  knife.  The  house  is  made  of 
wood.  The  lady  is  rather  tall.  On  the  floor  is  the 
little  boy's  books  with  something  binding  it.'' 

Marking  of  John  S 's  First  Report. 

It  is  quite  obviously  better  work  than  the  average 
work  of  the  Standard  II  boys,  and  is  given  in  notably 
concise  form,  which  is  rather  characteristic  of  boys 
than  of  girls ;  but  its  brevity  is  accompanied  by  dis- 
tinct poverty  of  material,  and  its  conciseness  is  jerky. 
It  looks  as  if  John  had  very  little  to  say  and  not 
that  he  was  choosing  wisely  from  an  abundance  of 
material.  The  report  is  weak  in  every  respect.  For 
enumeration  of  persons  and  things  John  receives  14 
marks.  The  only  action  correctly  noted  is  that  the 
boy  is  'sitting.'  The  positional  references  carry  7 
marks.  There  are  a  few  qualifications:  the  lady  is 
'tall;'  and  'rather'  yields  an  additional  modifica- 


THIKD  AND  FOUKTH  SEKIES  OF  EXPEEIMENTS       143 

tion;  and  something  is  'binding'  the  books;  a  mark 
is  also  given  for  the  material  qualification  'made  of 
wood.'    In  all  John  obtains  26  marks. 

John  8 's  Second  Spontaneous  Report. 

^^ A  hoy  was  sitting  on  a  chair  near  a  table,  and 
his  mother  was  giving  him  some  bread.  Under  the 
table  was  a  vase,  and  on  the  flour  [floor]  was  a  book. 
The  door  was  open  and  by  it  was  a  box,  and  on  the 
box  was  a  flower-pot  with  a  plant  in  it.  The  window 
was  open.  The  lady  was  wearing  a  blouse,  an  apron, 
and  a  skirt.  On  the  table  was  a  knife.  The  lady  was 
going  to  cut  some  bread,  and  the  boy  was  eating  a 
piece  of  bread  and  butter.  The  vase  was  a  green  one. 
The  plant  in  the  flower-pot  on  the  box  had  several 
leaves  on  it.  The  hoy  had  his  feet  on  one  of  the 
rails  of  the  chair.  The  boy  was  wearing  a  pair  of 
shoes.'' 

Marking  of  John  S 's  Second  Report. 

It  is  obvious  that  the  questions  have  influenced 
many  of  the  statements,  and  that  there  is  a  consid- 
erable improvement  on  the  work  of  the  previous 
week;  but  also  noticeable  is  the  exact  repetition  of 
some  of  the  sentences  of  the  first  report. 

Marks  for  enumeration  total  19. 

The  boy  was  'sitting'  and  'eating'  bread.  That 
the  mother  was  'giving  him  bread,'  or  'just  going  to 
cut  bread'  were  not  regarded  as  observed  activities. 
Of  course,  strictly  speaking,  no  activity  in  a  motion- 
less picture  can  be  other  than  an  inferred  activity, 
but  the  inferences  in  these  cases  were  considered  too 
far  away  from  their  observational  basis. 


144  CHILDKEN^S   PEKCEPTIONS 

The  positional  references  are  10  in  number. 

There  is  only  one  correct  qualification:  the  vase 
is  rightly  described  as  *  green.'  Hence,  32  marks 
are  obtained  for  John's  second  report — an  improve- 
ment of  6  on  his  previous  week's  report. 

John  S *s  First  and  Second  Sets  of  Answers. 

First  Set  of  Secx)nd  Set  of 

Questions.  Answers.  Answers. 

1.  Which  side  of  the  table   The  right  side.  On  the  right  side, 

was  the  lady  stand- 
ing? 

2.  What  was  she  daing?         She  was  giving  the   Cutting  a  piece  of 

hoy  some  food.  "bread. 

3.  How    was    she    holding   She  was  holding  it   Between  her  hands. 

what   she   had   in   her       between     her 
hand?  hands. 

4.  Had    the    lady    anything  ]Vo.  "No. 

in  her  hands  besides 
the  thing  you  have  told 
me  about? 

5.  What    clothes    was    the   An    apron    and    a   A  pinaforCy  a  skirt, 

la^y  wearing?  blouse    and    a 

skirt. 

6.  What  sort  of  a  hat  had   /  don't  no. 

she? 

7.  What    was    she   wearing   A  pair  of  shoes. 

on  her  feet? 

8.  Could  you  see  her  feet?     Yes. 

9.  Had  she  a  pinafore  or  an   A  apron. 

apron  on? 

10.  Had  she  a  frock  on?         Yes. 

11.  What     color     was     her  /  donH  no. 

blouse  or  the  top  part 
of  her  frock? 

12.  What     color     was     her  Her  skirt  was 

skirt?  black. 

13.  What     color     was     her   White. 

apron  or  pinafore? 

14.  What     color     was     her  /  don't  no. 

boots  or  shoes? 

15.  What  color  was  her  hair?  Black. 

16.  What   was   the   boy   do-   Eating   a   piece   of   Eating   a   piece  of 

ing?  bread  and  butter.       bread. 


and  { 

%  blouse. 

I  don't 

no. 

I  don't 

no. 

No. 

An  apron. 

Yes. 

I  don't 

no. 

Blue. 
White. 

I  don't 
Black. 

no. 

THIBD  AND  FOURTH  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS        145 


Questions. 

17.  He  had  something  in  his 

hand ;  how  was  he 
holding  it? 

18.  Where    were    the    boy*s 

feet? 

19.  What    clothes    was    the 

boy  wearing? 

20.  What     color     was     the 

boy's  coat  or  jacket? 

21.  What     color     were     the 

boy's  trousers  or  knick- 
ers? 

22.  What     color     were     the 

boy's  boots  or  shoes? 

23.  What     color     were     the 

boy's  stockings? 

24.  What  color  was  his  hair? 
25..  What  sort  of  boots  had 

the  boy? 

26.  What  sort  of  shoes  had 

he? 

27.  Did     you     see    anything 

under  the  boy's  chair? 

28.  Did    you    see    a    jug    or 

vase? 

29.  What  color  was  the  jug 

or  vase? 

30.  Did  you  see  anything  on 

the  floor  near  the  jug 
or  vase,  and  if  you  did, 
what  was  it? 

31.  What  color  was  the  ta- 

ble? 

32.  What  else  was  there  on 

the  table  beside  the 
thing  the  lady  was 
holding? 

33.  Did  you  see  a  knife? 

34.  Whereabouts  on   the   ta- 

ble was  it? 

35.  What     color     was     the 

knife? 

36.  Did    you    see    a    flower- 

pot? 


First  Set  of 
Answers. 


Second  Set  op 
Answers. 


Between    two    fin-  Between    a    finger 
gers.  and  a  thumb 

(showed  wrongly 
when  asked). 
On  one  of  the  rails  On  the  rail  of  the 

of  the  chair.  chair. 

Trowers,   hoots,  A  wastcoat,  a  pair 

coat   and   waste-       of   trowsers   and 


coat. 
Grey. 

Orey. 


Black. 

Black  stockings. 

I  don't  no. 
I  don't  no. 

I  don't  no. 

A  vase,  yes. 

A  vase. 

Green. 

Yes. 

white, 
A  knife. 


Yes. 

At  the  edge. 

Black. 

Yes. 


a  coat. 
Black. 

Black. 


Black. 

Black. 

I  donH  no. 
I  don't  no. 

I  donH  no. 

Yes. 

Yes,  a  vase. 

A  green  vase. 

Yes. 

I  donH  no. 
A  knife. 


Yes. 

On  the  edge. 

Black. 

Yes. 


146 


children's  perceptions 


Questions. 


were     the 


37.  Where    was   the    flower- 

pot? 

38.  What    color 

flowers? 

39.  How  many  flowers  were 

there? 

40.  What     color     were     the 

leaves? 

41.  How  many   leaves   were 

there? 

42.  What     color     was     the 

flower-pot  ? 

43.  What  color  was  the  box? 

44.  What  did  you  see  through 

the  open  window? 

45.  What  did  you  see  through 

the  open  door? 

46.  Did  you  see  a  window? 

47.  What     color     were     the 

walls  of  the  room? 

48.  What  color  was  the  car- 

pet? 

49.  Did  you  see  a  carpet? 

50.  What  room  was  it? 


First  Set  of 
Answers. 

On  a  tox. 

I  don't  no, 

I  don't  no, 

Oreen, 

I  don't  no. 


Second  Set  of 
Answers. 

On  a  tox. 

Green. 

I  don't  no. 

The     leaves     were 

green. 
Four. 


The  flower-pot  was  Green, 

red  and  green. 

The  hox  was  white.  White. 

I  did  not  see  any-  Nothing. 


Nothing. 

Yes. 

I  don't  no. 

I  don't  no. 

No. 

I  don't  no. 


Nothing, 

Yes, 

I  don't  no. 

They  hadn't  got  a 

carpet. 
No. 
The  kitchen. 


Marking  of  John  S 's  First  and  Second  Sets  of 

Answers. 

The  answers  are  poor  and  rather  below  the  aver- 
age for  the  grade  or  standard  in  which  the  boy  is 
classed.  He  obtains  24  marks  for  the  first  week  and 
25  the  second  week.  John's  characteristic  answer 
is  '^I  don't  no."  This  answer  may  very  well  be 
typical  of  a  boy  who  refuses  to  guess  and  demands 
a  distinct  memory  before  he  will  venture  on  an  asser- 
tion ;  but  it  may  also,  as  in  the  present  case,  be  found 
a  very  present  help  in  trouble  when  the  boy  is  rather 
stupid  and  knows  very  little.  A  good  guess  in  itself 
implies  much  previous  accurate  observation,  though 
it  may  not  be  applicable  to  the  present  case.    When 


THIRD  AND  FOURTH  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS       147 

John  does  guess,  he  sometimes  guesses  very  badly, 
as  when  he  calls  the  flower-pot  'red  and  green'  the 
first  week  and  'green'  the  week  after.  His  written 
answer  the  second  week  appeared  to  indicate  that  he 
had  observed  how  the  boy  was  holding  his  piece  of 
bread,  but  a  request  to  show  the  way  the  boy  was 
holding  it  made  it  evident  that  he  did  not  know.  The 
accuracy  of  these  interrogations  is  distinctly  below 
that  of  the  average  of  the  5-year-old  infant-school 
children. 

John  S 's  Self-Correction. 

'"/  said  there  was  a  window  and  there  is  not.  I 
said  there  was  no  carpet  and  there  is  a  carpet.  I 
said  there  were  four  leaves  and  there  is  five.  I  said 
the  boy  had  a  black  coat  and  he  has  a  green  coat.  I 
said  the  boy  had  a  black  pair  of  trousers  and  he  has 
a  pare  of  red  trousers.  I  said  the  boy  had  black  hair 
and  he  has  yellow.  I  said  the  boy  had  black  stockings 
and  he  has  blue.  I  said  the  lady  had  a  white  apron 
and  she  has  a  red  one.'' 

Marking  of  John  S 's  Self -Corrections. 

There  are  6  quite  obvious  corrections,  but  the  as- 
sertion of  the  carpet  is  a  new  error,  and  the  altera- 
tion of  'four'  leaves  into  'five'  is  a  curious  blunder, 
as  it  is  obvious  that  the  boy,  who  is  9  years  old,  had 
actually  looked  at  the  leaves  to  ascertain  their  num- 
ber at  this  final  exposure  of  the  picture. 

Comments  on  Table  XIII. 

The  First  Report  of  the  Standard  III  girls  is,  un- 
fortunately, not  a  reliable  index  of  their  capacity 
for  reporting  what  they  have  seen ;  for  recently,  be- 


148  CHILDKEN^S   PEKCEPTIONS 

fore  the  experiment  commenced,  they  had  received  a 
lesson  in  writing  a  story  about  a  picture,  and  several 
girls  had  been  influenced  by  that  lesson  and  had  not 
understood  that  they  were  required  to  report  on 
what  they  had  seen,  and  not  to  write  a  story  about  it. 
Doubtless,  this  attitude  towards  the  picture  some- 
what influenced  their  capacity  to  answer  questions 
on  it ;  and  that  the  low  mark  for  the  first  report  was 
principally  due  to  misunderstanding  is  indicated  by 
the  mark  obtained  by  the  girls  for  their  second  re- 
ports. There  is  a  decided  advance  on  the  work  of 
the  Standard  II  children,  both  of  the  boys  and  girls, 
and  the  same  relationships  subsist  between  the  work 
of  the  boys  and  girls  as  was  found  previously.  In 
their  capacity  to  answer  the  interrogatories  and  in 
self-correction  the  boys  and  girls  are  practically  the 
same,  whilst  in  their  power  of  reporting  the  girls  are 
much  superior.  It  is,  however,  important  to  note 
that  the  boys  of  this  class  (or  standard)  average  5 
months  older  than  the  girls.  And  we  may  again 
profitably  note  that  the  marks  are  lower  than  those 
of  the  infant-school  children. 

TABLE  XIII. 
Scores  of  the  Standard  III  Children,  Both  Sexes,  School  C. 

■S  B        a 

si  <a  o 

Average  Age.  -go     ^|       §&     sS     5^^ 

Yrs.Mths.  -^S      ^a      ^«     ^5      ^5 

34  Girls       9       9.9      Aver.  Mark 28.2  25.1  45.2  27.9  4.9 

Mean  Variation 9.1  4.6  8.2  5.0  1.3 

Coefficient  of  Variability..  .32  .18  .18  .18  .27 

42  Boys      10       2.9      Aver.   Mark 27.4  26.5  35.6  28.3  5.5 

Mean  Variation 5.4  4.2  8.5  3.6  2.0 

Coefficient  of  VariabiUty..  .19  .16  .24  .13  .36 


THIRD  AND  FOURTH  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS        149 

V.    The  Work  of  the  Standard  IV  Boys  and  Girls. 

The  work  of  this  grade  will  be  illustrated  by  the 

papers  of  Charles  B ,  aged  10  years  7  months, 

whose  marks  were  slightly  below  the  average  mark 
for  his  class. 

Charles  B ^s  First  Spontaneous  Report. 

^^In  the  picture  there  is  a  woman  and  her  son. 
There  is  a  chair  and  table,  and  on  the  table  is  a 
knife.  In  the  chair  sits  a  boy  eating  some  bread  and 
butter.  Underneath  the  chair  is  an  earthernware 
jug.  The  door  is  half  open.  On  the  floor  is  a  book 
with  a  bookmarker  to  keep  the  page.  The  walls  of 
the  house  are  a  pale  green.  The  floor  is  brown.  The 
ivoman  has  broivn  hair  and  wears  a  pink  coloured 
dress.  She  also  wears  a  green  coloured  blouse.  By 
the  open  door  is  a  plant  which  looks  like  a  geranium. 
It  is  planted  in  a  red  flower-pot,  and  is  situated  on 
a  pile  of  bricks  which  form  a  square.  The  bricks  are 
colour  red.  On  the  table  there  is  a  loaf  of  bread. 
The  jug  underneath  the  chair  in  which  the  boy  is 
sitting  is  broken.  The  book  marker  is  coloured 
black.'' 

Marking  of  Charles  B 's  First  Report. 

This  is  a  clearly  written  report,  and  looks  as  if 
it  had  been  prepared  in  answer  to  our  interroga- 
tories; but  the  true  relationship  is  an  inverse  one; 
the  questions  were,  of  course,  largely  determined  by 
the  children's  spontaneous  reports. 

There  are  enumerative  marks  for  ^ woman,'  ^ chair, ^ 
Hable,'  ^knife,'  'boy,'  'bread,'  'jug,'  'floor,'  'book' 


150  children's  perceptions 

(the  satchel),  ^bookmarker'  (the  supports  of  the 
satchel),  Vails,'  *hair,'  'dress,'  'blouse,'  'plant,' 
'geranium,'  'flower-pot,'  'pile  of  bricks'  (the  box), 
and  'loaf;'  a  total  of  20. 

The  boy  'sits'  and  'is  eating.' 

The  positional  references  number  nine.  There  are 
several  accurate  qualifications,  7  in  all.  Twice 
Charles  calls  blue  by  the  name  of  'green'  and  calls 
the  blue  dress  'pink;'  though  this  latter  error  may 
be  due  to  confusion  with  the  color  of  the  apron. 

Thirty-eight  marks  are  scored  by  the  first  report. 

Charles  B '5  Second  Spontaneous  Report. 

*^In  the  picture  there  is  a  lady  and  her  son.  The 
boy  is  sitting  on  a  chair.  He  has  a  piece  of  bread  in 
his  hands.  Underneath  the  chair  is  a  broken  jug. 
The  boy  has  blue  trousers  and  a  green  jacket.  The 
lady  is  standing  at  the  right  side  of  the  table.  In  her 
hand  she  holds  a  knife,  and  in  the  other  she  holds  a 
loaf.  She  wears  a  blue  skirt.  Her  hair  is  brown. 
On  her  feet  she  wears  brown  slippers.  She  also 
wears  an  apron  which  is  white.  The  door  is  open. 
There  is  no  window.  By  the  door  is  a  pile  of  bricks. 
On  top  of  the  bricks  is  a  geraineum.  The  plant  is 
planted  in  a  red  pot.  On  the  floor  is  a  book  with  a 
book  marker  in  it.  It  lies  with  its  back  on  the  floor. 
On  the  table  is  a  knife.  Underneath  the  table  is  a 
broken  jug.'' 

Marking  of  Charles  B 's  Second  Report. 

Charles  has  written  a  very  clear  report,  closely 
resembling  his  first  one. 
Enumerative  items  admit  a  total  of  21  marks. 


THIRD  AND  FOURTH  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS        151 


The  knife  appears  twice,  and  so  does  the  jug;  in  each 
case  once  placed  rightly  and  once  wrongly. 

There  are  2  references  to  action  and  14  to  position. 

The  correct  qualifications  are  as  follows :  the  jug 
is  'broken;'  the  boy's  jacket  is  'green;'  the  lady's 
skirt  is  'blue;'  and  her  hair  'brown;'  the  flower-pot 
is  '  red : ' — a  total  of  5. 

Charles  scores  42  marks  for  his  second  report, 
which  is  3.5  less  than  the  average  for  his  class 
(standard)  and  one  mark  less  than  the  average  mark 
of  the  7-year-old  children  of  School  A. 

Charles  B 's  First  and  Second  Sets  of  Answers. 


Questions. 

1.  Which  side  of  the  table 

was  the  lady  stand- 
ing? 

2.  What  was  she  doing? 

3.  How    was    she    holding 

what  she  had  in  her 
hand? 

4.  Had    the    lady    anything 

else  in  her  hand  be- 
side what  you  have 
told  me  about? 

5.  What    clothes    was    the 

lady  wearing? 

6.  What  sort  of  a  hat  had 

the  lady? 

7.  What    was   she    wearing 

on  her  feet? 

8.  Could  you  see  her  feet? 

9.  Had   she  a   pinafore   or 

apron  on? 

10.  Had  she  a  frock  on? 

11.  What     color     was     her 

blouse  or  the  top  part 
of  her  frock? 

12.  What     color     was     her 

skirt? 


First  Set  of 
Answers. 

Right. 


Cutting  'bread. 
In  her  left  hand. 


Yes. 


Second  Set  of 
Answers. 

Right, 


Cut  some  hread. 
In  her  right  hand. 


Yea, 


Blouse  and  skirt. 

A  House  and  skirt. 

She  had  no  hat. 

None. 

Shoes. 

Slippers. 

Yes. 
Apron. 

Yes, 
Yes. 

No,     she     had     a  No,    she    had    a 

hlouse  and  skirt.       blouse  and  skirt. 
Green,  blouse  blue. 


Pink. 


Skirt  blue. 


152 


CHILDBEN  S   PERCEPTIONS 


FiBST  Set  of 

Second  Set  op 

Questions. 

Answers. 

Answers. 

13. 

What     color     was     her 
apron  or  pinafore? 

White, 

Apron  white. 

14. 

What     color    were    her 
boots  or  shoes? 

Brown. 

8ho80  hroton. 

15. 

What  color  was  her  hair? 

Hair  Broton. 

Hair  Brown. 

16. 

What   was   the   boy   do- 

Eating. 

Eating. 

ing? 

17.  He  had  something  in  his 

hand;  how  was  he 
holding  it? 

18.  Where    were    the    boy's 

feet? 

19.  What    clothes    was    the 

boy  wearing? 

20.  What  color  was  the  boy*s 

coat  or  jacket? 

21.  What     color     were     the 

boy's  trousers  or  knick- 
ers? 

22.  What     color     were     the 

boy's  boots  or  shoes? 

23.  What     color     were     the 

boy's  stockings? 

24.  What  color  was  his  hair? 

25.  What  sort  of  boots  had 

the  boy? 

26.  What  sort  of  shoes  had 

he? 

27.  Did    you    see    anything 

under  the  boy's  chair? 

28.  Did    you    see    a   jug    or 

vase? 

29.  What  color  was  the  jug 

or  vase? 

30.  Did  you  see  anything  on 

the  floor  near  the  jug 
or  vase,  and  if  so, 
what  was  it? 

31.  What  color  was  the  ta- 

ble? 

32.  What   else    was   on    the 

table  beside  the  thing 
that  the  lady  was 
holding? 

33.  Did  you  see  a  knife? 

34.  Whereabouts  on  the  ta- 

ble was  it? 


Up  to  his  mouth.     Up  to  his  mouth. 


On  the  chair. 

Blouse   and   knick- 
ers. 
Goaty  light  hlue. 

On    the    rungs    of 

the  chair. 
Trousers     and 

jacket. 
Boy^s  coaty  hlue. 

Light  hlue. 

Trousers  green. 

Brown. 

Boys'  shose  hrown. 

Black. 

Hair,  hrown. 
Brown. 

Boys'  stockings 

hlack. 
hoys'  hair  hlack. 
Shoes  hlack. 

He  had  hoots. 

Black. 

Yes. 

Yes. 

A  jug. 

Yes. 

Brown. 

jug,  hrown. 

YeSf  a  hook. 

YeSf  a  hook. 

White. 

Tahle  Brown. 

A  loaf. 

Knife. 

Yes. 

In  the  middle. 

Yes. 
Middle. 

THIRD  AND  FOURTH  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS        153 


First  Set 

OF          Second  Set  of 

Questions. 

Answers 

Answers. 

35. 

What     color     was     the 

White,     what 

you  handle  yellow. 

knife? 

cut  with. 

36. 

Did    you    see    a    flower- 
pot? 

Yes, 

Yes, 

37. 

Where  was  it? 

hy  the  door. 

hy  the  door. 

38. 

What     color     were     the 
flowers? 

Yellow. 

Yellow  flowers. 

39. 

How  many  flowers  were 
there? 

three. 

about  a  dozen. 

40. 

What     color     were     the 
leaves? 

Green, 

leaves  green. 

41. 

How  many   leaves   were 
there? 

Half-a-dozen. 

A  M. 

42. 

What     color     was     the 
flower-pot? 

Red, 

flower-pot  Red, 

43. 

What  color  was  the  box? 

Pale  Brown. 

"box  light  brown. 

44. 

What  did  you  see  through 
the  open  window? 

Trees, 

no    window. 

45. 

What  did  you  see  through 
the  open  door? 

Trees, 

The  garden. 

46. 

Did  you  see  a  window? 

No. 

No. 

47. 

What     color     were     the 
walls  of  the  room? 

Pale  hrown. 

Walls  white. 

48. 

What  color  was  the  car- 
pet? 

No  carpet. 

no  carpet. 

49. 

Did  you  see  a  carpet? 

No, 

No. 

50. 

What  room  was  it? 

Kitchen, 

Kitchen, 

Marking  of  Charles  B 

■'s  Answers. 

Charles  obtains  26  marks  for  his  first  interroga- 
tory and  30  for  his  second.  This  mark  is  slightly 
below  the  average  mark  for  his  class  for  the  first, 
and  almost  identical  with  the  average  mark  for  the 
second  set  of  answers.  The  work  is  at  the  same  level 
as  that  of  the  5-year-old  children  of  School  A,  and 
decidedly  below  that  of  the  5-year-old  children  of 
School  B.  His  answer  to  Question  10  is  not  re- 
garded as  correct;  for  though  *  blouse'  has  been  ac- 
cepted in  the  answer  to  Question  6,  provided  that 
apron  or  pinafore  and  skirt  have  been  noted  as  well, 


154  CHILDBEN^S   PEBCEPTIONS 

and  accepted  on  the  ground  that  a  knowledge  of  the 
distinction  between  a  lady's  blouse  and  the  upper 
part  of  her  frock  is  not  possessed  by  many  children, 
yet  this  boy  clearly  does  distinguish  and  does  so 
wrongly.  He  accepts  erroneous  suggestions  less 
easily  the  second  week  (Questions  25,  26,  44),  but 
his  flowers  and  leaves  increase  in  number  and  are 
more  inaccurately  remembered  (Questions  39  and 
41) ;  his  colors,  contrary  to  the  general  tendency,  are 
^lightly  more  accurately  remembered  the  isecond 
week  than  the  first. 

Charles  B — —'s  Self  Correction. 

Charles  at  first  wrote  that  the  picture  now  ex- 
hibited was  ^A  different  picture,'  and  wrote  no 
more;  but,  on  being  assured  that  the  picture  was 
really  the  picture  that  he  had  seen  8  days  before, 
wrote  the  following  corrections  of  his  reports  and 
interrogatories. 

^^I  thought  her  apron  was  white,  hut  it  is  red.  I 
thought  his  coat  was  blue,  but  it  is  green.  The  walls 
are  gray  and  I  thought  they  were  brown.  His 
trousers  are  red  I  thought  they  were  green.  The 
lady  is  dressed  in  blue  but  I  thought  she  was  dressed 
in  green.  The  plant  is  on  a  box.  I  thought  it  was  on 
some  bricks.'^ 

Marking  of  Charles  B 's  Self -Correction. 

The  first  four  corrections  are  quite  clear.  Green 
and  pink  were  given  as  the  colors  of  the  woman's 
dress  in  the  first  interrogatory,  but  corrected  in  the 
second  (Questions  11  and  12) ;  a  mark,  however,  is 
allowed  on  the  ground  that  the  wrong  assertion  had 


THIED  AND  FOUETH  SEEIES  OF  EXPEEIMENTS        155 

been  made  and  was  now  corrected.  ^  *  Pile  of  bricks ' ' 
has  been  accepted  as  a  reasonable  identification  of 
the  box  in  the  corner ;  but  as  it  is  more  like  a  box 
than  a  pile  of  bricks,  the  last  sentence  about  the  box 
and  bricks  is  accepted  as  a  correction.  Charles  re- 
ceives 6  marks  for  self-correction,  which  is  slightly 
higher  than  the  average  mark  for  his  standard 
(class)  and  slightly  lower  than  that  of  the  5-year-old 
children  of  School  B. 

TABLE  XIV. 
Scores  of  the  Standard  IV  Children,  Both  Sexes,  School  O. 

be  ^  bo  ;g 

^"•^'•'«-  ^1  ^1  II  11  il 

Average  Age.  fetf  fcn^  mX  02^  oqU 

54  Girls     10       9.5     Aver.  Mark 42.5  29.0  49.8  30.2  6.3 

Mean  Variation 10.6  4.0  12.3  3.1  1.8 

Coefficient  of  Variability..  .25  .14  .25  .10      .29 

41  Boys     11       1.2     Aver.  Mark 39.6  28.5  44.5  29.7  5.4 

Mean  Variation 8.2  3.4  8.2  3.5  1.6 

Coefficient  of  Variability..  .21  .12  .18  .12     .30 

Comments  on  Table  XIV. 

There  is  a  distinct  advance  in  all  respects  upon 
the  work  of  the  Standard  III  children,  and,  so  far 
as  reporting  is  concerned,  the  work  of  the  infant- 
school  children  has  now  been  surpassed,  but  in  the 
interrogatories  the  infant-school  children  still  more 
than  hold  their  own.  In  comparing  the  work  of 
the  boys  and  the  girls  it  is  important  to  note  the 
greater  age  of  the  boys  in  this  standard,  since  there 
are  indications  that  the  girls  are  forging  ahead  of 
the  boys  in  their  capacity  to  answer  questions  on 
what  they  have  observed,  as  indeed  is  clearly  found 
to  be  the  case  when  boys  and  girls  of  the  same  age 


156  CHILDKEN^S   PERCEPTIONS 

are  compared.  We  have  already  seen  reason  to  be- 
lieve that,  in  their  power  of  reporting,  the  girls, 
standard  for  standard,  are  in  advance  of  the  boys ; 
and  the  present  result  strengthens  that  belief. 

VI.    The  Work  of  the  Standard  V  Boys  and  Girls. 

The  work  of  this  standard  will  be  illustrated  by 

means  of  a  girPs  papers,  worked  by  Connie  T , 

aged  11  years  9  months.  The  papers  are  slightly 
above  the  average  of  those  worked  in  the  Standard 
V  girls'  class. 

Connie  T 's  First  Spontaneous  Report. 

^*In  the  picture  I  saiv  a  little  boy  and  his  mother. 
His  mother  was  holding  a  coco-nut.  She  had  cut  a 
piece  out  and  he  was  eating  it.  A  knife  was  on  the 
table  with  a  black  handle.  The  little  boy's  mother 
had  broivn  hair,  and  so  had  the  boy.  The  little  boy 
had  a  red  blouse  and  blue  knickers  on.  The  door  of 
the  house  was  open  and  was  painted  brown.  The 
boy  was  sitting  at  a  table  which  was  painted  brown. 
He  ivas  sitting  on  a  brown  chair  and  the  part  of  the 
chair  that  is  used  for  sitting  on  had  holes  in  it.  The 
little  boy  had  socks  on  which  were  broivn  and  black 
shoes.  His  hair  was  short  and  a  little  bit  curly.  By 
the  door  was  a  box  tvith  a  dark  red  pot  on  it.  In  the 
pot  was  a  geranum  with  a  red  blossom.  The  mould 
was  very  black  and  looked  rich  looking  mould.  The 
box  on  ivhich  it  was  standing  was  a  light  broivn.  In 
the  picture  there  ivere  no  pictures  hanging  on  the 
floor  there  were  bare  boards.  The  little  boy  and  his 
mother  were  dressed  nicely.  There  was  on  the  floor 
a  book  with  a  red  cover  and  the  leaves  were  white 


THIBD  AND  FOURTH  SEEIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS        157 

the  book  was  broken  a  little.  The  mother  had  a  white 
apron  on  and  she  was  not  very  tall  and  not  very 
short/' 

Marking  of  Connie  T 's  First  Report. 

It  is  quite  obvious  that  this  report  represents  a 
considerable  advance  on  those  previously  given. 

Enumerative  marks  are  given  for  kittle  boy/ 
'mother,'  'cocoanut'  (the  hemispherical  loaf  of 
bread ) , '  piece '  ( the  bread  which  the  boy  was  holding) , 
'knife,'  'table,'  'handle'  (of  the  knife),  'hair'  (the 
mother's),  'hair'  (the  boy's),  'blouse,'  'knickers,' 
'door,'  'chair,'  'part  of  the  chair  used  for  sitting 
on,'  'holes'  (in  the  seat  of  the  chair),  'shoes,'  'box,' 
'pot,'  'geranium,'  'blossom,'  'room,'  'floor,'  'book,' 
'cover'  (of  the  book),  'leaves'  (of  the  book),  'legs' 
(of  the  table),  and  'apron:'  a  total  of  27. 

The  woman  is  'holding'  the  cocoanut  and  the  boy 
is  'eating'  and  'sitting.' 

A  knife  was  'on'  the  table;  the  door  was  'open'; 
the  boy  was  'at'  the  table  'on'  a  chair;  there  were 
holes  'in'  the  seat  of  the  chair;  a  box  was  'by'  the 
door  with  a  pot  'on'  it;  and  there  was  a  book  'on' 
the  floor ;  a  total  of  8  positional  references. 

Connie  is  very  successful  with  her  qualifications : 
the  handle  of  the  knife  was  'black;'  the  woman's 
hair  was  'brown;'  the  boy's  hair  was  'brown;'  the 
door  was  'brown;'  the  chair  was  'brown;'  the  boy's 
shoes  were  'black;'  his  hair  was  'short'  and  'curly,' 
'a  little  bit;'  the  pot  was  'dark  red,'  and  the  blossom 
of  the  plant  was  'red;'  the  box  was  'light  brown;' 
the  floor  was  'bare;'  both  the  woman  and  the  boy 
were  dressed  'nicely'  (two  marks) ;  the  cover  of  the 


158  CHILDREN'S   PERCEPTIONS 

book  was  'red,'  and  'broken'  'a  little;'  the  table  had 
'four'  legs;  the  lady  was  of  'medium'  height  (not 
very  tall  and  not  very  short) :  thus  scoring  a  total 
of  20  marks. 

Fifty-eight  marks  are  thus  obtained  for  the  first 
report. 

Connie  T 's  Second  Spontaneous  Report. 

^^In  the  picture  there  was  a  little  boy  and  his 
mother.  The  mother  was  holding  a  cocoa-nut.  The 
little  hoy  was  holding  a  piece  of  cocoa-nut  and  eating 
it,  it  was  a  piece  that  had  been  cut  out  of  the  cocoa- 
nut.  The  mother  had  light  brown  hair.  She  had  a 
blue  blouse  and  a  black  skirt  and  white  apron.  Her 
shoes  were  just  peeping  out  of  her  skirt  and  they 
were  black.  The  little  boys  hair  was  light  brown 
and  he  had  a  blue  blouse  and  red  knickers.  He  also 
had  blue  socks  and  brown  shoes.  He  was  sitting  back 
on  a  cane  chair,  which  was  brown.  There  was  a  table 
in  the  room  which  was  light  brown  it  had  four  legs. 
On  the  table  was  a  knife  with  a  brown  handle.  There 
was  also  a  door  which  was  open.  By  the  door  there 
was  a  light  brown  box.  On  the  box  there  was  a 
flower-pot.  The  flower-pot  was  dark  red.  There 
was  some  rich-looking  mould  in  the  flower-pot.  In 
the  pot  there  was  a  geranium.  The  flower  was  red 
and  there  was  five  flowers  and  seven  leaves.  Some 
of  the  leaves  were  green  and  some  yellow.  There 
was  on  the  floor  by  the  chair  a  book  which  had  a  red 
cover  and  was  bound  in  black,  it  was  broken  a  little. 
The  walls  were  black.  It  looked  like  the  kitchen  and 
it  was  badly  furnished.  There  was  no  lino  on  the 
floor.'' 


THIED  AND  FOURTH  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS       159 

Marking  of  Connie  T 's  Second  Report. 

Again  we  have  a  full  and  clear  report,  very  like 
the  first  one,  but  influenced  here  and  there  by  the 
questions  of  the  first  interrogatory.  Enumerative 
marks  are  obtained  for  31  items. 

The  mother  was  ^holding'  the  cocoa-nut;  the  little 
boy  was  *  holding'  a  piece  of  the  cocoa-nut,  was  'eat- 
ing' it,  and  'sitting'  on  a  chair.  There  are  also  10 
references  to  position  and  18  qualifications. 

Connie  T thus  scores  62  marks  for  her  second 

report.  It  is  very  doubtful  whether  anything  is  to 
be  seen  in  the  flower-pot  which  is  distinguishable  as 
mould  at  all ;  it  is  quite  certain  that  nothing  can  be 
seen  to  indicate  that  it  is  rich  mould. 


Connie  T *s  First 

AND  Second  Sets 

OF  Answers. 

First  Set  of 

Second  Set  of 

Questions. 

Answers. 

Answers. 

1. 

Which  side  of  the  table 
was  the  lady  standing? 

Right  side. 

Right  side. 

2. 

What  was  the   lady  do- 

Holding   a    cocoa- 

Looking  at  the  hoy. 

ing? 

nut. 

3. 

How    was    she    holding 

Holding   it    to    the 

In   her   two   hands 

what   she   had   in  her 

loy. 

(showed   wrong- 

hand? 

ly)^ 

4. 

Had    the    lady   anything 
else    in    her    hand    be- 
sides   what    you    have 
told  me  about? 

No. 

No. 

5. 

What    clothes    was    the 
lady  wearing? 

Blouse  and  skirt. 

Blouse    and    skirt. 

6. 

What  sort  of  a  hat  had 
she? 

Nurse's  cap. 

A  nurse^s  cap. 

7. 

What   was   she   wearing 
on  her  feet? 

Black  shoes. 

shoes. 

8. 

Could  you  see  her  feet? 

No. 

Yes,  the  tips  of  her 
black  shoes. 

9. 

Had   she   a   pinafore   or 
apron  on? 

Yes. 

Yes. 

10. 

Had  she  a  frock  on? 

Yes. 

Yes. 

160 


CHILDKEN  S   PEECEPTIONS 


Questions. 


First  Set  of 
Answers. 


11. 

12. 
13. 

14. 
15. 
16. 
17. 

18. 

19. 

20. 

21. 

22. 

23. 

24. 
25. 

26. 

27. 

28. 
29. 


31. 


What     color     was     her   Blue  blouse. 
blouse  or  the  top  part 
of  her  frock? 

What     color     was     her  Black  skirt, 
skirt? 

What   was   the   color  of   White  apron, 
her     apron     or     pina- 
fore? 

What     color     were     her  Black  shoes, 
boots  or  shoes? 

What  color  was  her  hair  ? 


What  was  the  boy  doing? 

He  had  something  in  his 
hand;  how  was  he 
holding  it, 

Where  were  the  boy's 
feet? 

What  clothes  was  the 
boy  wearing? 

What  color  was  the  boy's 
coat  or  jacket? 

What  color  were  his 
trousers  or  knickers? 

What  color  were  the 
boy's  boots  or  shoes? 

What  color  were  his 
stockings? 

What  color  was  his  hair? 

What  sort  of  boots  had 
the  boy? 

What  sort  of  shoes  had 
he? 

Did  you  see  anything  un- 
der the  boy's  chair? 

Did  you  see  a  jug  or 
vase? 

What  color  was  the  jug 
or  vase? 

Did  you  see  anything  on 
the  floor  near  the  jug 
or  vase,  and  if  you  did, 
what  was  it? 

What  color  was  the  ta- 
ble? 


Lightish  brown 

hair. 
Eating   a   piece   of 

cocoa-nut. 
Between  thumb  and 

four  fingers. 


Hanging  by  the 

chair. 
Blue  blouse  and  red 

knickers. 
Blue  blouse. 

red  knickers. 

Black  shoes* 

Black  stockings. 

Light  Brown, 
Slippers. 

I  forget. 

No. 

No. 

I  forget. 

Yes,  a  book. 

Brown. 


Second  Set  op 
Answers. 

Blue, 


Black. 
White. 

Black  shoes. 
Light  brown. 
Eating  a  cocoa-nut. 

Between  his  finger 
and  thumb 
(showed   wrong- 
ly). 

Leaning  on  the 
chair. 

Blouse  and  knick- 
ers. 

Blue  blouse. 

Black, 

black. 

Black. 

Light  Brown. 
Slippers. 

black  ones. 

No. 

No. 

There  was  not  a 
jug  at  all. 

Yes  {see  second  re- 
port) . 

Brown. 


THIKD  AND  FOURTH  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS       161 


Questions. 

32.  What  else  was  there  on 

the   table  beside  what 
the  lady  was  holding? 

33.  Did  you  see  a  knife? 

34.  Whereabouts  on  the  ta- 

ble was  it? 

35.  What     color     was     the 

knife? 

36.  Did    you    see    a    flower- 

pot? 

37.  Whereabouts  was  it? 

38.  What     color     were     the 

flowers  ? 

39.  How  many  flowers  were 

there? 

40.  What     color     were     the 

leaves? 

41.  How  many   leaves   were 

there? 

42.  What     color     was     the 

flower-pot? 

43.  What  color  was  the  box? 

44.  What  did  you  see  through 

the  open  window? 

45.  WhatJ  did  you  see  through 

the  open  door? 

46.  Did  you  see  a  window? 

47.  What     color     were     the 

walls  of  the  room? 

48.  What  color  was  the  car- 

pet? 

49.  Did  you  see  a  carpet? 

50.  What  room  was  it? 


First  Set  of 
Answers. 

A  knife. 


Second  Set  of 
Answers. 

A  knife. 


Yea. 

Near  the  hoy. 

Brown  handle. 

Yes. 

On  a  hox  near  the 

window. 
Red  flowers. 

5. 

Some    green,    some 

yellow. 
7. 

Red. 

Brown. 
Nothing. 

Nothing. 

Yes. 

Black  walls. 

There  was  not  any 

carpet. 
No. 
Kitchen. 


Yes. 

Near  the  mother. 

Light    hrown    han- 
dle. 
Yes. 

On  the  hox  hy  the 

window. 
Red  flowers. 

Fi/oe  flowers. 

Some   green,    some 

yellow. 
Severn  leaves. 

Dark  red  flower 

pot. 
Light  hrown  hox. 
Nothing. 

Nothing. 

No. 
Black. 

There  was  not  any. 

No. 

Kitchen. 


Marking  of  Connie  T 's  First  and  Second  Sets 

of  Ansivers. 

In  the  first  interrogatory  Connie  obtains  marks 
for  31  correct  answers,  and  in  the  second  32 ;  in  each 
case  about  two  or  three  marks  lower  than  the  aver- 
age for  the  grade  or  standard.  The  two  sets  of  an- 
swers are  ahnost  identical.     She  was  not  sure,  on 


162  childbed's  perceptions 

tlie  first  time  of  asking,  that  the  lady's  feet  were 
visible;  but,  by  the  second  week,  remembered  that 
the  tips  of  her  shoes  could  be  seen  (Question  8). 
Also  by  the  second  week  she  was  quite  sure  that 
there  was  no  window;  the  position  of  the  boy's  legs 
seemed  clearer  too  after  the  lapse  of  time;  but  the 
question  as  to  the  color  of  the  boy's  knickers,  rightly 
answered  a  day  after  the  observation,  was  forgotten 
a  week  afterwards ;  although  the  day  before,  in  her 
second  report,  she  had  stated  that  they  were  red. 
The  handle  of  the  knife  was  ^ brown'  the  first  week, 
which  is  a  fair  description,  but  4ight  brown'  the  sec- 
ond week,  which  is  certainly  wrong. 

These  interrogations  are  at  about  the  same  level 
as  those  of  the  6-year-old  infants  of  School  A. 

Connie  T ^s  Self-Correction. 

''/  said  the  lady  had  a  black  skirt  and  she  had  a 
blue  one.  I  said  the  lady  had  a  white  apron  and  it  is 
red.  I  said  there  was  not  a  jug  under  the  chair  and 
there  is  a  green  one.  I  said  the  book  was  bound  in 
black  and  it  is  bound  in  red.  I  said  the  boy  had  a 
blue  suit  and  he  has  a  green  blouse.  I  said  there 
were  seven  leaves  and  there  are  nine.  I  said  there 
were  five  flowers  and  there  are  three.  I  said  the 
leaves  were  green  and  they  have  some  black  in  them. 
I  said  the  little  boy  had  black  stockings  and  he  has 
blue.  I  said  the  lady  had  light  brown  hair  and  she 
has  dark  brown  hair.  I  said  it  was  a  brown-handled 
knife  and  it  is  a  black-handled  knife.'' 

Marking  of  Connie  T 's  Self-Correction. 

Most  of  these  corrections,  numbering  11  alto- 
gether, are  quite  clear  and  definite.    Two  marks  are 


THIRD  AND  FOURTH  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS        163 

obtained  for  the  correction  about  the  jug]  its  exist- 
ence, formerly  denied,  is  now  asserted,  and  its  color, 
necessarily  omitted,  is  now  given.  I  am  doubtful 
whether  the  woman's  hair  ought  to  be  called  dark 
brown  or  light  brown,  but  the  girl's  assertion  that 
light  brown  is  wrong  is  accepted  as  a  correction. 
It  is  also  very  doubtful  whether  the  handle  of  the 
knife  is  dark  brown  or  black,  but  again  the  correc- 
tion is  accepted;  for,  in  her  second  interrogatory, 
Connie  had  called  it  ^ light  brown,'  which  is  certainly 
wrong.  The  self-correction  is  two  or  three  marks 
above  the  average  for  the  standard. 

TABLE  XV. 
Scores  of  the  Standard  V  Children,  Both  Sexes,  School  C. 

o  o 

to  bo  •S 

Average  Age.  ^§.    B      U     U     ^^ 

Yrs.Mths.  S^     S5     ^«     ^a     ^3 

42  Girls     12       1.8     Aver.  Mark 59.5  33.1  65.2  35.7  7.5 

Mean  Variation 10.4  3.6  9.8  3.5  1.9 

Coefficient  of  Variability..  .17  .11  .15  .09  .25 

32  Boys     12       2.9      Aver.  Mark 41.9  29.6  46.8  31.7  9.0 

Mean  Variation 7.2  3.4  8.0  2.2  2.1 

Coefficient  of  Variability..  .17  ,U  .17  .07  .23 

Comments  on  Table  XV. 

There  is  an  advance  on  the  work  of  Standard  IV, 
slight,  except  in  the  power  of  self-correction,  on  the 
part  of  the  boys,  but  very  marked  in  the  case  of  the 
girls.  It  is,  of  course,  to  be  noted  that  this  is  the 
first  standard  in  which  the  ages  of  the  boys  and  girls 
are  practically  the  same,  though  even  here  the  boys 
are  slightly  older.  In  the  interrogatories  these  chil- 
dren are  not  yet  outside  the  infant-school  range,  but 


164  children's  perceptions 

in  the  reports  the  girls  are  definitely  so,  though  the 
boys  are  scarcely  better  than  the  7-year-old  infants 
of  School  B.  Comparison  between  the  boys  and 
girls  shows  the  girls  to  be  superior  all  along  the  line, 
except  in  their  power  of  self-correction ;  but  the  girls 
have  fewer  errors  to  correct  in  this  and  the  succeed- 
ing grades. 

VII.    The  Work  of  the  Standard  VI  Children, 
Boys  and  Girls,  of  School  C. 

The  work  of  this  grade  will  be  illustrated  by  the 

papers  of  a  boy,  Thomas  G ,  aged  12  years  5 

months.  His  work  is  somewhat  uneven,  being  quite 
average  work  for  the  first  week,  and  in  the  second 
week  showing  no  improvement  in  his  report,  but 
great  improvement  in  his  interrogatory.  His  self- 
correction  is  normal  for  the  standard. 

Thomas  G ^s  First  Spontaneous  Report. 

^^In  the  picture  I  saw  a  wooden  table  with  a  lady 
and  a  hoy  beside  it.  The  boy  was  sitting  on  a  chair 
eating.  The  lady  had  a  large  bowl  in  her  hands.  I 
also  saw  a  large  box  with  a  flower-pot  on  it;  the  plant 
was  in  full-bloom.  Under  the  table  was  a  large 
pitcher  and  on  the  floor  was  a  book  with  two  hookers 
on  it.  There  was  also  a  large  wooden  door  which 
was  partly  open.  The  chair  on  which  the  boy  was 
sitting  ivas  made  of  wood.  The  plant  that  was  on 
the  box  was  a  geranium.  On  the  boy's  back  was  a 
school-bag  so  that  illustrates  probably  the  boy  ivas 
going  to  school.'' 


THIRD  AND  FOURTH  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS        165 

Marking  of  Thomas  G 's  First  Report. 

The  report  is  clearly  written  and  tersely  ex- 
pressed, but  Thomas  appears  to  have  very  little  to 
say.  He  enumerates  very  few  of  the  things  repre- 
sented in  the  picture. 

Marks  are  obtained  for  15  items.  The  school-bag 
mentioned  may  have  been  the  satchel  on  the  floor,  but 
this  has  been  definitely  called  '  a  book  with  two  hook- 
ers,' and  it  certainly  is  not  on  the  boy's  back.  Per- 
haps the  inclusion  of  the  school-bag  is  merely  an 
error  of  association;  but  the  second  report  makes 
this  somewhat  doubtful. 

The  boy  is  'sitting'  and  'eating.' 

Positional  references  total  9. 

The  correct  qualifications  are  more  numerous  than 
is  usual  with  younger  children,  except  that,  through- 
out the  whole  of  this  and  the  next  week's  report, 
there  is  only  one  reference  to  color,  and  that  one 
doubtful.  The  boy  has  noticed  the  colors,  as  we 
find  by  his  interrogatories,  but  he  has  not  deemed 
them  worthy  of  a  place  in  his  reports ;  they  are  prob- 
ably not  aspects  interesting  to  him.  The  qualifica- 
tions he  does  give  are  as  follow :  the  table,  the  door, 
and  the  chair  are  'made  of  wood'  (three  marks) ; 
the  bowl,  the  box,  and  the  pitcher  are  'large'  (three 
marks);  the  plant  is  in  'bloom'  (full  is  a  doubtful 
qualification);  the  book  has  'two'  hookers,  and  the 
door  is  'partly'  open :  a  total  of  9. 

Thomas  scores  a  total  of  35  marks  for  his  first 
report. 

Thomas  G 's  Second  Spontaneous  Report, 

*^In  the  picture  I  saw  a  large  wooden  box  with  a 
pla/nt.    The  plant  had  about  six  flowers  and  about 


166  CHILDREN'S   PERCEPTIONS 

twenty  leaves;  the  plant  was  named  a  geranium. 
There  ivas  also  a  door  which  was  partly  open.  A 
large  table  ivas  near  the  door.  A  small  boy  was  sit- 
ting on  a  wooden  chair  near  the  table.  Under  the 
chair  on  which  the  boy  ivas  sitting  was  a  school-bag ; 
the  boy  had  something  in  his  hand  which  he  appeared 
to  be  eating.  A  woman  was  at  the  left-hand  side  of 
the  table.  Between  her  two  hands  she  had  what  ap- 
peared to  be  a  large  bowl.  Under  the  table  was  a 
lage  {this  word  spelt  wrongly)  pitcher,  and  on  the 
floor  near  the  boy  was  a  book  with  two  hookers  on  it. 
The  colour  of  the  walls  was  a  Cambridge"^  colour.^' 

Marking  of  Thomas  G 's  Second  Report. 

Again  Thomas  has  given  a  clear  report  much  re- 
sembling his  first.  The  most  interesting  point  lies 
in  the  reappearance  of  the  school-bag,  which,  how- 
ever, is  no  longer  placed  on  the  boy's  back,  but  under 
the  chair;  yet  the  actual  satchel  still  seems  to  be 
identified  as  a  ^^book  with  two  hookers." 

Seventeen  enumerative  marks  are  obtained.  There 
are  two  references  to  action,  and  seven  to  position. 

The  correct  qualifications  are  very  similar  to  those 
previously  given:  the  box,  table,  bowl  and  pitcher 
are  ^ large'  (four  marks) ;  the  box  and  the  chair  are 
made  of  Vood'  (two  marks) ;  the  door  is  *  partly* 
open;  the  boy  is  a  ^ small'  boy;  the  woman's  *two' 
hands  appear  to  have  been  observed;  there  are  *two* 
hookers  (the  supports  of  the  satchel) ;  and  the  walls 
are  a  ^Cambridge'  color.  The  grayish  blue  of  the 
walls  may,  perhaps,  be  fairly  called  a  light  blue,  so 
that  a  mark  is  allowed  for  the  last  qualification  men- 
tioned, making  a  total  of  11. 

♦The  colors  of  Cambridge  University  are  light  blue. 


THIRD  AND  FOURTH  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS        167 

Thomas  scores  in  all  37  marks  for  his  second  re- 
port, an  improvement  of  only  two  marks  upon  his 
first. 


Thomas  G- 


-*s  FiBST  AND  Second  Sets  of  Answers. 


Questions. 

1.  Which  side  of  the  table 

was  the  lady  strand- 
ing? 

2.  What  was  the  lady  do- 

ing? 

3.  How    was    she    holding 

what  she  had  in  her 
hands? 

4.  Had  she  anything  else  in 

her  hand  beside  what 
you  have  told  me 
about? 

5.  What    clothes    was    the 

lady  wearing? 

6.  What  sort  of  a  hat  had 

she? 

7.  What   was   she   wearing 

on  her  feet? 

8.  Could  you  see  her  feet? 

9.  Had   she   a  pinafore   or 

apron  on? 

10.  Had  she  a  frock  on? 

11.  What     color     was     her 

blouse  or  the  top  part 
of  her  frock? 

12.  What     color     was     her 

skirt? 

13.  What     color     was     her 

apron  or  pinafore? 

14.  What     color     were     her 

boots  or  shoes? 

15.  What     color     was     her 

hair? 

16.  What   was   the   boy   do- 

ing? 

17.  How  was  the  boy  hold- 

ing what  he  had  in  his 
hand? 


First  Set  op 
Answers. 


Second  Set  of 
Answers. 


The  left  side  of  the  The  left  side  of  the 

table,  table. 

Holding  a  bowl.  Holding  a  bowl  in 
her  hands. 

Between  her  two  Between  her  hands 
hands  (showed  (showed  wrong- 
wrongly),  ly). 

No.  No, 


Bright  coloured 

clothes. 
No  hat, 

Sandles, 

Yes, 
No, 

FrocJCf  yes. 
Red,    Blouse. 


Blue,    Frock, 


Bright  coloured 

clothes. 
Haty  had  not  one. 

Shoes, 

Yes. 
Apron. 

No. 

Blouse — blue. 


Had  no  skirt. 


She   did   not   have  Red, 
one, 

U   brown. 


Dark  hair. 

Eating, 

Between  thumb 
and    finger 
(showed  wrong- 


Brown  shoes. 

Dark  hair. 

Boy,  eating. 

Between  thumb 
and   finger 
(showed  wrong- 

hi). 


168 


CHILDREN  S   PERCEPTIONS 


Questions. 


FiBST  Set  of 
Answers. 


Second  Set  of 
Answers. 

Feet  on  chair  rail. 


18.  Where    were    the    boy's    On  rail  of  the 

feet?  chair, 

19.  What    clothes    was    the   Bright  coloured 

boy  wearing?  clothes, 

20.  What     color     was     the   Goat,  hhie. 

boy's   coat   or   jacket? 

21.  What     color     were     the   Knickers,    Red. 

boy's  trousers  or  knick- 
ers? 

22.  What     color     were     the   Shoes,  had  none. 

boy's  boots  or  shoes? 

23.  What     color     were     the  Blue  stockings. 

boy's   stockings? 

24.  What   was  the   color   of  Hair.    Fair. 

the  boy's  hair? 

25.  What  sort  of  boots  had  had  no  hoots. 

the  boy? 

26.  What  sort  of  shoes  had  had  no  shoes. 

he? 

27.  Did    you    see    anything  School-hag. 

under  the  boy's  chair? 

28.  Did    you    see    a    jug   or   Yes.     Vase. 

vase? 

29.  What  color  was  it?  Jug,     White. 

30.  Did  you  see  anything  on   Yes,  hook  with  two   Yes. 

the  floor  near  the  jug       hookers. 
or   vase;    if   so,   what 
was  it? 

31.  What  color  was  the  ta-  Brown  tahle. 

ble? 

32.  What  else  was  there  on   Nothing. 

the  table  beside  the 
thing  the  lady  was 
holding? 

33.  Did  you  see  a  knife?         No  knife. 

34.  Whereabouts  on  the  ta-  Nowhere  on  tahle.   Centre  of  tahle. 

ble  was  it? 

35.  What     color     was     the   Was  not  a  knife.       Brown  handle. 

knife? 

36.  Did    you    see    a    flower-   Yes.  Yes. 

pot? 

37.  Where    was    the    flower-   On  a  wooden  how.    On  a  hox. 

pot? 

38.  What     color     were     the  Red  flowers.  Pinkish  red. 

flowers  ? 

39.  How  many  flowers  were  Four  flowers.  Six, 

there? 


Bright  coloured 

clothes. 
Red. 

Blue. 


Black. 

Navy  hlue. 

Fair. 

Shoes,  had  no 

hoots, 
hlack. 

Te$. 

No,  a  large  pitcher. 
Green. 


Brown. 
Knife. 

Yes. 


THIRD  AND  FOURTH  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS       169 


Questions. 


First  Set  of 
Answebs. 


were     the  leaves  green. 


40.  What     color 

leaves? 

41.  How  many   leaves   were   leaves  ten, 

there? 

42.  What     color     was     the 

flower-pot? 

43.  What  color  was  the  box? 

44.  What  did  you  see  through 

the  open  window? 

45.  What  did  you  see  through 

the  open  door? 


dark 


46.  Did  you  see  a  window? 

47.  What     color     were     the 

walls  of  the  room? 

48.  What  color  was  the  car- 

pet? 

49.  Did  you  see  a  carpet? 

50.  What  room  was  it? 


Flower  Pot. 

red, 
"box.     white. 
No   window  to  see 

through. 
The   door  was  not  Nothing. 

open  wide 

enough. 
No, 
Walls,     Hue. 


Second  Set  of 
Answebs. 

Oreen, 

about  twenty. 

Red, 


White, 

Was  no  window. 


No, 

Blue,     light. 


There  was  no  car- 

pet. 
No, 
Room,     Dont  no. 


Was  no  carpet. 

No. 

Probably   the 
kitchen. 


Marking  of  Thomas  G 's  Answers. 

Thomas  answered  28  questions  accurately  the  first 
week  and  35  the  week  afterwards,  which  indicated 
an  exceptional  improvement.  He  denied  that  the 
woman  had  an  apron  in  the  first  interrogatory,  but 
admitted  it  and  remembered  the  color  a  week  later. 
He  denied  that  the  boy  had  either  boots  or  shoes 
the  first  week,  but  allowed  shoes  the  week  after. 
The  four  questions  about  the  knife  (Numbers  32, 
33,  34,  35),  all  answered  at  first  by  a  denial  of  the 
knife,  were  answered  correctly  a  week  later.  These 
corrections  could  hardly  have  been  due  merely  to 
delayed  suggestion,  since  he  persevered,  and 
rightly,  in  his  negative  answers  about  the  woman's 
hat,  the  window,  what  could  be  seen  through  the 
door,  and  the  carpet.    It  would  appear  that  the  sug- 


170  CHILDREN'S   PERCEPTIONS 

gestion  works  affirmatively  mucli  more  easily  when 
there  has  been  a  basis  of  perception,  though  tempo- 
rarily forgotten  and  even  denied. 

Thomas  G 's  8  elf -Correction. 

^'I  said  the  hoy's  stockings  were  navy  blue  they 
are  Cambridge  colour.  I  said  there  were  six  flowers 
and  twenty  leaves  there  are  only  three  flowers  and 
nine  leaves.  I  said  she  has  no  frock  but  she  has  a 
blue  one.  I  also  mentioned  the  boy  had  a  blue  blouse 
and  he  had  a  green  one;  I  said  the  pitcher  was  under 
the  table  but  it  is  under  the  chair  on  which  the  boy 
is  sitting.  I  mentioned  the  lady  was  holding  a  bowl 
between  her  hands  but  it  appears  to  be  part  of  a  loaf 
of  bread.  I  said  the  knife  was  in  the  centre  of  the 
table  but  it  is  on  the  edge.  I  also  said  the  handle  of 
it  was  brown  but  it  is  black.'' 

Marking  of  Thomas  G 's  Self -Correction. 

^Blue'  has  been  allowed,  even  navy  blue,  as  a  cor- 
rect description  of  the  color  of  the  boy's  stockings, 
but  'Cambridge  blue'  is  more  accurate  and  is  there- 
fore allowed  as  an  actual  correction.  'Brown'  has 
been  regarded  as  correct  for  the  color  of  the  knife- 
handle,  and,  though  it  is  very  doubtful  whether  it 
ought  to  be  called  brown  or  black,  'black'  is  accepted 
as  a  correction  since  the  boy,  on  further  perception, 
decides  it  to  be  black.  The  other  assertions  are 
straightforward  corrections  of  obvious  errors, 
though,  as  has  already  been  explained,  'bowl'  has 
been  accepted  as  an  identification  of  the  loaf  of  Ger- 
man bread.  Thomas  obtains  a  total  of  9  marks  for 
self-correction. 


THIED  AND  FOUKTH  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS       171 
TABLE  XVI. 

SCX)BES    OF    THE    STANDARD    VI    OhILDEBN,    BOTH    SeXES,    SCHOOL    C. 

a         s    I 

Average  Age.  £&  gl  !§.  8^  ijS 

Yrs.  Mtbs.  fooj  fo»H  oQtf  oq^  qqU 

20  Girls     12       8.0     Aver.  Mark 66.3  33.8  76.5  34.8  7.6 

Mean  Variation 12.5  2.5  14.3  3.1  2.3 

Coefficient  of  Variability..  .19  .07  .19  .09      .30 

26  Boys     13       0.3     Aver.  Mark 34.9  29.5  44.6  31.6  8.9 

Mean  Variation 9.7  3.7  10.9  2.7  1.1 

Coefficient  of  Variability..  .28  .13  .24  .09     .li 

Comments  on  Table  XVI. 

In  their  power  of  reporting,  the  girls  continue  to 
make  considerable  advances  upon  the  work  of  the 
preceding  standard ;  but,  in  their  capacity  to  answer 
questions  on  what  they  have  observed,  they  are  ap- 
parently on  a  level  with  the  children  of  Standard  V. 
The  work  of  the  Standard  VI  boys  is  also,  in  this  re- 
spect, equal  to  that  of  the  preceding  class ;  whilst,  in 
their  power  to  report,  they  are  found  to  be  below 
Standard  V. 

Comparisons  between  the  boys  and  the  girls  show 
the  latter  to  be  superior  in  every  respect  (except 
that  of  self-correction) ;  in  the  fluency  and  accuracy 
of  reporting,  very  seriously  superior.  And,  of 
course,  the  boys  have  many  more  obvious  errors  to 
correct ;  so  that  it  is  doubtful  whether  they  are  really 
better  than  the  girls,  even  in  self-correction.  Doubt- 
less, a  ^domestic  interior'  offers  more  of  interest  to 
girls  than  to  boys ;  but  the  striking  difference  in  the 
reports  seems  more  likely  to  be  due  to  superior  de- 
velopment of  the  girls  of  this  age  on  the  linguistic 
and  observational  side.    It  is  well  known  that  girls 


172  children's  perceptions 

will  write  more  than  boys ;  but,  in  this  case,  they  have 
written  more  on  an  accurate  observational  basis, 
and  what  they  have  written  is  relevant  to  the  require- 
ments of  the  experiment.  In  their  capacity  to  re- 
port, the  girls  are  now  enormously  advanced  beyond 
the  infant-school  children,  but  the  boys  are  not; 
and  in  the  interrogatories  the  balance  is  still  slightly 
in  favor  of  the  7-year-old  children  of  the  infant 
school. 

VIII.    The  Work  of  the  Standard  VII  Children, 
Boys  and  Girls,  of  School  C. 

The  work  of  this  class  or  grade  will  be  illustrated 

by  the  papers  of  Mabel  P ,  aged  13  years  2 

months,  whose  work  is,  on  the  whole,  just  above  the 
average  for  that  of  the  girls  of  Standard  VII. 

Mabel  P 's  First  Spontaneous  Report. 

'^I  can  see  in  the  picture  a  small  boy.  He  has  a 
very  pale  face.  He  has  golden  hair.  He  is  dressed 
in  a  green  coat,  and  red  knickerbockers.  He  has  blue 
stockings.  Also  black  shoes.  He  is  sitting  on  a 
chair.  By  his  side  is  a  nurse.  She  is  dressed  in  a 
blue  skirt  and  blouse.  She  has  on  a  red  apron.  In 
her  hand  she  has  a  big  black  basin.  She  has  handed 
the  boy  something  out  of  the  basin.  By  the  side  of 
the  boy  there  is  a  table,  yellow  in  colour.  On  the 
table  is  a  knife  with  a  dark  handle  and  white  blade. 
At  the  end  of  the  room  there  is  a  door.  It  is  yellow 
in  colour.  It  is  also  a  little  way  open.  By  the  side 
of  the  boy  there  is  a  sort  of  stand.  On  this  stand  is  a 
big  red  book.  By  the  side  of  the  nurse  is  a  big  box. 
It  is  yellow  in  colour.    It  also  has  one  or  two  nails  in 


THIKD  AND  FOUBTH  SEBIES  OF  EXPEBIMENTS        173 

it.  On  the  box  their  is  a  floiver  pot.  In  the  flower 
pot  are  some  geraniums.  The  flowers  of  the  gera- 
nium are  red.  The  leaves  are  green,  with  black 
stripes  across. 

^^The  nurse's  hair  is  very  dark.  The  boy  is  evi- 
dently an  invalid.  The  homestead  looks  very  poorly 
furnished.  The  door  has  bars  of  wood  across  it. 
The  boy's  feet  are  resting  on  one  of  the  bars  of  the 
chair.  The  nurse  is  standing.  The  pot  of  geraniums 
are  standing  on  a  wooden  box,  that  has  one  or  two 
bars  of  wood  across.'' 

Marking  of  Mabel  P 's  First  Report. 

Again  we  have  a  report  which  seems  closely  to 
follow  the  questions  of  the  interrogatory;  but,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  the  questions  have  not  yet  been  asked, 
and  the  closeness  is  due  to  the  circumstance  that  the 
questions  were  formed  to  run  along  the  lines  on 
which  the  child's  mental  evolution  takes  place.  The 
persons  and  things  are  mentioned,  located,  and 
qualified  by  adjectival  and,  to  a  slight  extent,  by 
adverbial  description.  As  we  have  seen,  the  reports 
improve  in  every  respect  as  the  child  grows  more 
proficient,  but  especially  in  the  location  and  quali- 
fication of  the  things  enumerated. 

Mabel  obtains  34  enumerative  marks.  The  last 
sentence  about  the  geraniums  on  the  wooden  box 
with  bars  of  wood  across  it  is  a  repetition  of  state- 
ments which  have  been  made  before. 

The  boy  *is  sitting,'  the  nurse  4s  standing,^  and 
'has  handed'  the  boy  something  out  of  the  basin. 
The  last  assertion,  however  is  thought  perhaps  too 


174  childeen's  pekceptions 

inferential  and  doubtful  in  nature  to  permit  a  mark 
to  be  given  to  it  as  a  correct  observation. 

With  locational  terms  and  phrases,  Mabel's  paper 
is  abundantly  supplied.  She  obtains,  in  fact,  16 
marks  for  positional  references. 

But  it  is  in  the  qualifications  attached  to  the  per- 
sons and  the  things  enumerated  that  the  more  pro- 
ficient children  make  their  ability  especially  evident. 
The  boy  is  ^ small,'  his  face  is  'pale,'  he  has  'golden' 
hair,  a  'green'  coat,  'red'  knickerbockers,  'blue' 
stockings,  and  black  'shoes.'  The  woman  has  a  'blue' 
skirt,  a  'blue'  blouse,  a  'red'  apron  and  'dark'  hair. 
The  basin  is  'big'  and  'black;'  the  boy  has  something 
'out'  of  the  basin  (similarity  of  appearance  is  held 
to  justify  this) ;  the  table  is  'yellow;'  the  knife  has 
a  'dark'  handle  and  a  'white'  blade;  the  door  is  'yel- 
low, '  and  open  '  a  little  way ; '  the  book  on  the  stand  is 
'big'  and  'red;'  the  box  is  'big;'  and  the  nails  are 
'one  or  two'  in  number.  If  we  accept  'one  or  two' 
as  an  indefinite  expression  meaning  'several,'  this  is 
admissible.  The  flowers  are  'red,'  the  leaves  are 
'green,'  and  the  stripes  across  the  leaves  are  'black.' 
The  furniture  is  'poor'  (involved  in  the  phrase 
'poorly  furnished').  A  total  of  27  marks  is  gained 
for  accurate  qualification. 

Mabel  P therefore  scores  79  marks  for  her 

first  report. 

Mabel  P 's  Second  Spontaneous  Report. 

^'The  boy  in  the  picture  has  on  a  green  coat.  He 
also  has  on  a  pair  of  red  knickerbockers.  Also  a 
pair  of  blue  stockings  and  a  pair  of  black  shoes.  He 
is  sitting  on  a  chair.   He  has  his  feet  on  the  front  bar 


THIRD  AND  FOURTH  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS        175 

of  the  chair.  By  his  chair  stands  a  woman  evidently 
his  mother.  She  has  in  her  hands  a  big  black  bowl. 
She  has  on  a  blue  skirt  and  a  blue  blouse.  Over  these 
she  has  a  red  apron.  She  has  a  very  pale  face  and 
very  dark  hair.  On  the  boy^s  left  side  there  stands 
a  table.  It  is  yellow  in  color.  On  the  table  is  a 
knife.  The  handle  is  black  and  the  blade  is  white. 
On  the  right  side  of  the  table  there  is  a  door.  It  is 
yellow  in  color.  It  also  has  two  or  three  bars  of  wood 
across  it.  It  is  about  half-way  open.  On  the  right 
side  of  the  woman  there  is  a  big  box.  It  is  yellow  in 
color  and  has  some  nails  in  it.  It  also  has  a  few  bars 
of  wood  across  it.  On  the  box,  there  is  a  flower  pot. 
It  is  red  in  color  and  contains  a  few  geraniums.  The 
flowers  of  the  geraniums  are  red.  The  leaves  are 
green.  The  leaves  have  a  thick  black  stripe  across 
them.  There  is  about  three  leaves  and  four  flowers. 
They  are  in  full-bloom  by  the  look  of  them.  On  the 
right  side  of  the  boy  is  a  large  book.  It  is  red  in 
color  and  is  very  thick.  The  boy  is  evidently  an  in- 
valid. He  has  a  very  pale  face.  He  has  beautiful 
golden  hair.  In  his  hands  he  is  holding,  what  looks 
like  a  piece  of  cake.  The  homestead  looks  extremely 
poorly  furnished.  The  boy's  shoes  are  laced  up 
ones.  The  book  is  on  a  stand.  The  boy  is  about 
eleven  or  twelve  years  of  age. 

^^The  stand  on  which  the  book  is  is  very  dark  in 
color  it  is  almost  black.  The  chair  on  which  the  boy 
is  sitting  is  fairly  high.  The  woman's  hair  shines 
very  much  in  the  picture.  She  has  handed  him  some 
of  the  contents  of  the  basin.  The  tvoman  looks  very 
sad.    She  is  of  a  very  slender  build." 


176  childben's  pebceptions 

Marking  of  Mabel  P 's  Second  Report. 

This  report  very  closely  resembles  the  one  given 
the  week  before,  though  it  is  obviously  fuller.  One 
rather  noticeable  object,  the  jug  under  the  chair,  is 
still  omitted,  and,  notwithstanding  the  suggestive 
force  of  the  questions  about  the  jug,  its  existence  is 
denied  in  both  the  interrogatories.  The  woman  in 
the  picture,  formerly  identified  as  a  nurse,  is  now 
perceived  as  'evidently  his  mother.'  The  'some- 
thing out  of  the  basin'  of  the  first  report  is  now 
identified  as  a  'piece  of  cake.'  These  identifications 
improve  without  any  suggestive  force  in  the  ques- 
tions bearing  on  them.  But  the  boy  is  still '  evidently 
an  invalid ; '  this  is  an  inference  from  a  pale  face,  or, 
rather,  one  with  no  color  in  the  cheeks.  And  the 
satchel  is  still  a  big  red  book  on  a  stand ;  a  descrip- 
tion, by  the  way,  which  several  adults  have  given  me 
from  time  to  time.  She  no  longer  tells  us  that  the 
woman  has  handed  him  something  out  of  a  basin; 
the  usual  tendency  at  this  age  is  towards  observation 
and  away  from  inference,  but  possibly  the  identifica- 
tion of  the  'something'  as  a  'piece  of  cake'  may  in 
this  case  account  for  the  omission  of  'handed  out  of 
the  basin. ' 

Enumerative  marks  are  obtained  for  37  items,  an 
improvement  of  4  marks  on  the  enumeration  in  the 
first  report.  The  additional  enumerations,  involving 
the  bars  of  wood  on  the  box  and  the  slender  figure  of 
the  woman,  were  in  no  way  due  to  any  suggestive 
influence  of  the  interrogatories,  for  no  questions 
bore  even  indirectly  on  these  points. 

The  boy  'is  sitting'  and  'holding'  a  piece  of  cake. 
Positional  references  are  numerous.    The  boy  is  'on' 


THIBD  AND  FOUBTH  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS        177 

the  chair  and  his  feet  are  'on'  the  bar  of  the  chair. 
Mabel  misplaces  the  woman  in  relation  to  the  boy, 
for  she  is  not  'by  his  chair,'  an  error  evident  in  both 
interrogatories.  The  bowl  is  '  in '  the  woman 's  hands. 
The  apron  is  'over'  the  skirt  and  blouse.  It  is  doubt- 
ful, perhaps,  whether  'over'  should  receive  a  mark, 
since  the  wearing  of  an  apron  at  all  implies  such  a 
position.  The  table  is  on  'the  left  side'  of  the  boy; 
a  knife  is  'on'  the  table;  and  'on  the  right  side'  of 
the  table  there  is  a  door.  Bars  of  wood  are  seen 
'across'  the  door  which  is  'open.'  'On  the  right 
side'  of  the  woman,  the  box  'in'  which  there  are  nails 
is  situated,  and  bars  of  wood  run  'across'  the  box. 
The  flower-pot  is  'on'  the  box,  and  the  leaves  of  the 
geraniums  have  black  stripes  'across'  them.  'On 
the  right  side'  of  the  boy  is  a  book,  and  he  has  a 
piece  of  cake  'in'  his  hands.  The  book  is  'on'  the 
stand:  making  a  total  of  16  references  to  position. 
The  accurate  qualifications  are  again  very  numer- 
ous. The  boy's  coat  is  'green;'  his  knickerbockers 
are  'red;'  his  stockings  are  'blue'  and  his  shoes  are 
'black;'  his  feet  are  on  the  'front'  bar  of  the  chair; 
the  bowl  is  'big'  and  'black.'  The  woman's  skirt  is 
'blue,'  her  blouse  is  'blue'  and  her  apron  is  'red;' 
her  face  is  'pale;'  her  hair  is  'dark.'  The  table  is 
'yellow.'  'The  knife  is  'black'  in  the  handle  and 
'white'  in  the  blade.  The  door  is  'yellow,'  but  it 
has  not  'two  or  three  bars'  across  it,  but  it  is  'half- 
way' open.  The  box  is  'big'  and  'yellow;'  but  it  has 
only  one,  not  a  'few'  bars  across  it.  The  flower-pot 
is  'red;'  the  flowers  are  'red;'  the  leaves  are  'green' 
with  'thick,'  'black'  stripes,  and  the  flowers  are  in 
'full  bloom.'    The  book  (the  satchel)  is  'large,'  'red' 


178  CHILDEEN^S   PEECEPTIONS 

and  Hhick.'    The  boy's  face  is  ^pale'  and  his  hair 

is  *  beautiful'   (a  rare  aesthetic  qualification),  and 

'golden;'  and  he  is  'about  eleven  or  twelve  years 

old.'    The  room  is  'poorly'  'furnished.'    The  stand 

is  'very  dark;'  the  chair  is  'fairly'  'high.'     The 

woman's  hair  'shines'  and  shines  'very  much;'  her 

figure  is  'slender'  and  she  looks  'very  sad.'    Mabel 

thus  achieves  a  total  of  41  good  qualifications.    The 

high  total  of  96  marks  is  obtained  for  this  second 

report. 

Mabel  P 's  First  and  Second  Sets  of  Answers. 

First  Set  of  Second  Set  of 

Questions.  Answers.  Answers. 

1.  Which  side  of  the  table   left  of  the  table.         The  Left, 

was  the  lady  stand- 
ing? 

2.  What  was  the  lady  do-   She  was  holding  a   She  was  holding  a 

ing?  big  hasin.  tig   hlack   howl, 

3.  How    was    she    holding   She  was  holding  it   She  was  holding  it 

what   she   had   in   her       near    the    hoy^s  with    two    hands 
hands?                                    face   {showed  (showed   wrong- 
wrongly),  ly), 

4.  Had  she  anything  else  in   ^o,  No, 

her  hand  besides  what 
you  have  told  me 
about? 

5.  What    clothes    was    the  A    Hue    skirt    and   A    hlue    skirt    and 

lady  wearing?  House,      A    Red       House  and  a  red 

apron,  apron. 

6.  What  sort  of  a  hat  had   She  had  no  hat  on.   She  had  no  hat  on, 

she? 

7.  What   was   she   wearing   /  /     could    not     see 

on  her  feet?  anything   on   her 

feet, 

8.  Could  you  see  her  feet?   No,  No, 

9.  Had   she   a   pinafore   or   Yes,    she    had    an   Yes, 

apron  on?  apron   on, 

10.  Had  she  a  frock  on?  Yes.  Yes, 

11.  What     color     was     her   Blue  in  color  Blue  Blouse, 

blouse  or  the  top  part        hlouse, 
of  her  frock? 

12.  What     color     was     her  Blue  in  color  skirt.  Blue  Skirt. 

skirt? 


THIRD  AND  FOURTH  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS       179 


13.  What     color     was     her  Bed  in  color  apron.  Red  apron, 

apron  or  pinafore? 

14.  What    color    were    her   /  did  not  see  any  I  could  not  see  any, 

boots  or  shoes?  hoots, 

15.  What  color  was  her  hair?  A  dark  hrown. 


16.  What  was   the  boy  do-  He   was   alout   to 
ing?  eat  something. 


17.  How     was     he     holding  He  was  hold, 

what    he    had    in    his 
hand? 

18.  Where    were    the    boy's 

feet? 

19.  What    clothes    was    the 

boy  wearing? 


20.  What     color     was     the 

boy's  coat  or  jacket? 

21.  What     color    were     the 

boy's  trousers  or  knick- 
erbockers? 

22.  What     color     were     the 

boy's  boots  or  shoes? 

23.  What     color     were     his 

stockings? 

24.  What  was  the  color  of 

the  boy's  hair? 

25.  What  sort  of  boots  had 

the  boy? 

26.  What  sort  of  shoes  had 

he? 

27.  Did    you    see    anything 

under  the  boy's  chair? 

28.  Did  you  see  a  jug? 

29.  What  color  was  the  jug? 

30.  Did  you  see  anything  on 

the  floor  near  the  jug 
or  vase;  if  you  did, 
what  was  it? 

31.  What  color  was  the  ta- 

ble? 


Resting  on  a  tar  of 

the  chair, 
A  green  coat.  Red 

Knickers i  Blue 

Stockings,   Black 

Shoes. 
Green  coat. 


Red  trosers. 

Black  Shoes, 

Blue  Stockings, 

Golden   Color. 

Black  shoes. 

Black  lace  up 

Shoes, 
No, 

No, 

(No  answer.) 
A     stand    with    a 
hook  on  it. 

Yellow, 


A  dark  "brown  color 
was  her  hair. 

He   was    holding 
something  in  his 
hand;  he  was 
sitting  on  a 
chair. 

Towards  his  mouth, 
holding  it  with 
two  hands. 

On  the  front  har  of 
the  chair. 

A   green   coat   and 
hlack  shoes,  Red 
knickerbockers, 
blue  stockings. 

Green  coat. 

Red  knickerbock- 
ers. 

Black  Shoes. 

Blue  stockings. 

Very  fair,  other- 

wise   golden. 
Laced  shoes. 

Laced  shoes. 

No. 

No. 

I  never  saw  one. 

Yes,  a  big  red  book. 


Yellow  table. 


180 


CHILDREN  S   PERCEPTIONS 


Yes. 

Next  to  the  basin. 


32.  What  else  was  there  on  A  knife, 

the  table  beside  the 
thing  the  lady  was 
holding? 

33.  Did  you  see  a  knife? 

34.  Whereabouts  on  the  ta- 

ble was  it? 

35.  What     color     was     the   A  black  handle  and 

knife?  a  white  blade, 

36.  Did    you    see    a    flower-   Yes, 

pot? 

37.  Where    was    the   flower-   On  a  big  bow, 

pot? 


A  knife. 


38.  What     color     were     the   Red  Flowers, 

flowers? 

39.  How  many  flowers  were   /   donH   remember, 

there? 

40.  What     color    were     the   Oreen  leaves, 

leaves? 


41.  How  many   leaves   were 

there? 

42.  What     color     was     the 

flower-pot? 

43.  What  color  was  the  box? 

44.  What  did  you  see  through 

the  open  window? 

45.  What  did  you  see  through 

the  open  door? 

46.  Did  you  see  a  window? 

47.  What     color     were     the 

walls  of  the  room? 

48.  What  color  was  the  car- 

pet? 

49.  Did  you  see  a  carpet? 

50.  What  room  was  it? 


four  leaves, 

Redish  color. 

Yellowish  color. 
There    was    not    a 

window. 
Nothing, 

No, 

I  did  not  notice  the 

color, 
I  did  not  see  any 

carpet. 
No, 
Evidently    the 

kitchen. 


Yes, 

On   the   edge   near 

the  boy. 
A  blmck  handle  and 

a  white  blade. 
Yes. 

On   the   right   side 
of  the  woman 
standing    on    a 
big  box. 

Red  flowers. 

About  three. 

Oreen  with  a  thick 

black  stripe 

across, 
four  leaves. 

Red  flower  pot, 

yellow  box. 
I  did  not  see  a  win- 
dow. 
Nothing, 

No. 

I  did  not  notice  the 
walls. 

There  was  no  car- 
pet. 

No. 

The  kitchen. 


Marking  of  Mabel  P 's  First  and  Second  Sets  of 

Answers. 

MabePs  answers  are  slightly  more  accurate  than 
the  average  for  her  standard.    She  obtains  38  marks 


THIBD  AND  FOURTH  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS        181 

for  her  first  interrogatory  and  39  for  her  second, 
given  a  week  later.  Though  she  varies  their  phras- 
ing from  week  to  week*,  there  is  one  case  only  in 
which  her  second  week's  answers  differ  in  meaning 
from  those  given  the  week  before.  She  did  not  re- 
member (Question  39)  how  many  flowers  there  were 
on  the  plant  when  she  was  asked  on  February  2nd., 
but  on  the  9th.  said  *^ About  three."  There  are 
other  indications  that  the  second  week's  remem- 
brance is  clearer  than  the  first,  as  may  easily  be  seen 
by  reference  to  the  answers  to  Questions  34,  37  and 
40.  Her  resistance  to  suggestibility  is  very  high; 
and,  had  she  not  failed  to  notice  the  jug  and  dis- 
placed the  woman,  she  would  have  reached  a  total 
of  43  marks,  the  highest  mark  obtained  by  any  girl 
of  her  grade.  The  highest  mark  obtained  by  any 
boy  of  the  corresponding  grade  or  standard  was  38. 

Mabel  P 's  Self-Corrections. 

^'1.    I  said  there  was  nothing  under  the  hoy's 
chair,  but  there  is  a  green  jug. 

2.  I  said  I  did  not  notice  the  walls  of  the  room, 
they  are  a  grayish  blue. 

3.  I  said  there  was  only  4  geranium  leaves  there 
are  nine. 

4.  I  said  the  handle  of  the  knife  was  black,  it  is  a 
very  dark  brown. 

5.  I  said  the  boy  was  holding  his  food  ivith  both 
hands  he  is  only  holding  it  with  one  hand. 

6.  I  said  the  woman  was  at  the  left  of  the  table, 
she  is  in  front  of  the  table. 

♦It  will  be  remembered  that  the  children  had  no  chance  of  seeing 
their  first  week's  answers  when  giving  those  of  the  second  week. 


182  children's  peeceptions 

7.  I  said  he  had  laced  shoes,  hut  I  cannot  see 
whether  they  were  laced  or  buttoned. 

8.  I  said  I  could  not  see  her  feet  but  I  can  see 
them  now. 

9.  I  said  she  had  no  shoes  on  hut  she  has  hlack 
ones  on. 

10.  I  said  the  door  was  yellow  hut  it  is  streaked 
with  green  and  red." 

Marking  of  Mabel  P 's  Self-Corrections. 

This  is  excellent  work.  Two  marks  are  obtained 
for  the  first  sentence,  for  the  existence  and  color  of 
the  jug,  formerly  omitted,  are  now  inserted.  The 
corrections  in  Sentences  2  and  3  are  obvious.  ^ Black' 
is  allowed  for  the  knife-handle,  but  ^very  dark 
brown'  is  nearer  to  complete  accuracy,  and  is  ac- 
cepted as  a  correction.  Sentence  5  is  an  obvious  cor- 
rection. In  Sentence  6,  Mabel  realizes  that  she  has 
misplaced  the  woman,  and,  if  we  accept  the  larger 
edge  of  the  table  as  the  *  front,'  the  statement  may 
be  regarded  as  a  correction.  ^ Laced  shoes'  was  an 
acceptable  answer,  but  the  correction  in  Sentence  7 
is  a  real  one.  Corrections  8  and  9  are  obvious.  It 
is  right  to  say  the  door  is  'yellow'  or  'brown,'  but  it 
is  the  correction  of  an  omission  to  say  ''it  is  streaked 
with  green  and  red." 

Mabel  scores  10  or  11  marks  for  self-correction, 
according  as  we  do  or  do  not  accept  her  answer 
about  the  front  of  the  table.  Her  mark  has  been 
listed  as  10,  two  and  a  half  marks  above  the  average 
for  her  grade  in  the  girls'  school,  and  one  mark  above 
the  corresponding  mark  for  her  grade  in  the  boys' 
school.  The  boys,  of  course,  had  more  obvious 
errors  to  correct. 


THIRD  AND  FOURTH  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS       183 

TABLE  XVII. 
Scores  of  the  Standabd  VII  Children,  Both  Sexes,  School  C. 

p  Si     S 

Average  Age.  ■gg.-SS  gO  §16^ 

Yrs.  Mths.  la^tf  E "  MftS  M^S  wO 

14  Girls     13       1.8     Aver.  Mark 81.4  34.5  89.6  36.2  7.5 

Mean  Variation 16.8  4.0  13.4  3.4  2.2 

Coefficient  of  Variability..  .20  .11  .15  .09  .29 

10  Boys     13       7.5      Aver.  Mark 34.9  31.4  50.6  32.3  9.0 

Mean  Variation 4.3  3.2  8.6  3.7  2.0 

Coefficient  of  Variability..  .13  .10  .17  .11  .22 

Comments  on  Table  XVIL 

The  boys  show  a  slight  advance  on  the  work  of  the 
preceding  standard  and  the  girls  show  a  very  great 
advance  in  their  reports  and  a  smaller  one  in  their 
interrogatories.  Even  the  boys  are  now  beyond  the 
range  of  the  7-year-old  infant-school  children  in 
their  capacity  to  report  accurately  on  what  they  have 
seen,  though  only  slightly  so ;  and  the  6-year-old  in- 
fants of  School  B  are  still  slightly  superior ;  but  the 
7th  standard  girls  are  very  greatly  superior  to  the 
children  of  all  previous  standards.  In  the  interroga- 
tories there  is  still  very  little  difference  between  the 
infants  and  the  boys  and  girls.  The  girls'  work  is 
slightly  above  that  of  the  best  of  the  infants,  and 
the   boys'  decidedly  below  it. 

The  comparison  between  the  work  of  the  boys 
and  girls  of  the  same  school  grade  (Standard  VII) 
is  markedly  in  favor  of  the  girls,  though  the  girls 
of  this  standard  are  6  months  younger  than  the  boys. 
The  liigh  variability  in  the  girls'  reports  is  due  to 
the  extremely  good  work  of  two  or  three  girls  who 
score  marks  well  over  the  hundred ;  the  highest  mark 


184  CHILDREN'S   PERCEPTIONS 

TABLE  XVIII. 
WOBK  OF  BOTS  AND  GiBLS  COMPARED  AgE  BY  AgE   (AvEBAGE  MABES 

WITH  Coefficients  of  Vabiability*).! 


Average  Age.  -g  © 

Yrs.  Mths.  S« 

28  Girls       8       6.6     Aver.  Mark 29.1 

Coefficient  of  Variability..  .30 

32  Boys       8       6.2     Aver.  Mark 24.2 

Coefficient  of  Variability..  .29 

37  Girls       9       4.4     Aver.  Mark 32.7 

Coefficient  of  Variability..  .29 

34  Boys       9       4.9     Aver.  Mark 28.4 

Coefficient  of  Variability..  .29 

32  Girls     10       5.6     Aver.  Mark 39.4 

Coefficient  of  Variability..  .27 

43  Boys     10       6.1     Aver.  Mark 32.6 

Coefficient  of  Variability..  .24 

42  Girls     11       6.0     Aver.  Mark 52.0 

Coefficient  of  Variability..  .27 

27  Boys     11       7.0     Aver.  Mark 36.8 

Coefficient  of  Variability..  .22 

33  Girls     12       6.3      Aver.  Mark 65.5 

Coefficient  of  Variability..  .24 

31  Boys     12       4.3     Aver.  Mark 36.8 

Coefficient  of  Variability..  .21 

26  Girls     13       6.0     Aver.  Mark 64.9 

Coefficient  of  Variability..  .15 

26  Boys     13       5.6     Aver.  Mark 39.3 

Coefficient  of  Variability..  .28 

♦The  coeflScient  of  variability  used  in  the  above  table  is  the  quotient 
of  the  mean  variation  divided  by  the  average. 

fThe  results  shown  in  this  table  should  be  compared  with  those  of 
infants  in  Table  XI. 

TABLE  XIX. 

The  Pebcentage  Incbease  in  Accubacy  feom  the  Fibst  to  the 
Second  Intebbogatoby  ;  Boys  and  Gibls  Compabed,  School  C. 

Aver.  Mark      Aver.  Mark 

First  Second          Percentage 
Age-Group.   No.                   Sex.          Interrogatory.  Interrogatory.     Increase. 

8-year 28                  Girls                  25.2  26.4                   5% 

32                    Boys                    23.9  25.0                     5% 

9-year 37                    Girls                    25.7  26.9                     5% 

34                    Boys                    27.4  28.6                     4% 

10-year 32                    Girls                    27.8  30.2                    9% 

43                    Boys                    27.4  29.0                     6% 

11-year 42                    Girls                    30.7  32.2                     5% 

27                    Boys                    27.9  29.3                     B% 

12-year 33                    Girls                    32.8  35.1                     7% 

31                    Boys                    28.9  31.2                     8% 

13-year 26                   Girls                   33.8  35.6                    5% 

26                    Boys                    30.7  31.7                     8% 


b 

2 

s 

a 

1 

-^t! 

4. 

o 

4J  U 

£-2 

H 

li 

iS 

S^ 

aj« 

QQO 

25.2 

37.7 

26.4 

6.3 

.10 

.18 

.11 

.36 

23.9 

24.4 

25.0 

3.9 

.20 

.28 

.18 

.46 

25.7 

41.6 

26.9 

5.2 

.17 

.25 

.15 

.29 

27.4 

33.2 

28.6 

6.1 

.12 

.30 

.13 

.37 

27.8 

47.6 

30.2 

6.0 

.17 

.19 

.13 

.22 

27.4 

40.1 

29.0 

5.4 

.15 

.23 

.13 

.44 

30.7 

58.5 

32.2 

6.6 

.13 

.26 

.13 

.29 

27.9 

44.7 

29.3 

7.3 

.12 

.19 

.13 

.34 

32.8 

73.6 

35.1 

7.0 

.13 

.22 

.10 

.34 

28.9 

41.1 

31.2 

7.6 

.13 

.21 

.09 

.28 

33.8 

73.6 

35.6 

7.0 

.09 

.22 

.08 

.24 

30.7 

47.8 

31.7 

8.8 

.11 

.26 

.08 

.23 

THIRD  AND  FOURTH  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS       185 

achieved  by  any  boy  of  the  corresponding  grade  is 
76.  Not  only  are  the  girls  superior  in  their  capacity 
to  report  accurately  on  what  they  have  noticed,  they 
are  also  superior  in  accurate  observation,  as  shown 
by  their  superior  marks  in  both  interrogatories. 
Doubtless  some  of  this  superiority  is  due  to  the  sub- 
ject-matter of  the  picture,  but,  in  my  judgment,  not 
very  much;  this  consideration,  however,  impels  us 
to  further  research  with  the  subject-matter  in  favor 
of  the  boys. 

IX.    The  Work  of  Boys  and  Girls  Compared  Age 

BY  Age. 

Hitherto  the  work  of  boys  and  girls  has  been  com- 
pared standard  by  standard,  but  such  a  proceeding 
is  not  quite  fair.  For  the  schools  may  be  differently 
organised ;  the  boys  may  be  promoted  more  rapidly 
than  the  girls  or  vice  versa.  Let  us  now  therefore 
cut  right  across  the  school  organisation  and  show  the 
work  of  the  boys  and  girls  of  corresponding  ages. 

Comments  on  Tables  XVIII  and  XIX* 

Age  for  age,  the  girls  are  undoubtedly  superior 
to  the  boys — greatly  so  in  their  capacity  for  accurate 
reporting  and  definitely  so,  though  to  a  less  degree, 
in  their  power  to  observe  accurately.  In  self-correc- 
tion, the  boys  appear  to  have  the  advantage  slightly ; 
but,  as  I  have  pointed  out  previously,  the  boys  have 
more  obvious  errors  to  correct.  There  is  one  break 
in  the  regularity  of  the  figures.    The  girls  of  Stand- 


♦There  are  no  girls  in  the  school  over  14  years  of  age,  but  there  are 
seven  boys  above  14 ;  these  are  excluded  from  Tables  XVIII  and  XIX, 
though,  of  course,  they  appear  in  the  *standard'  groupings  elsewhere. 


186  childbed's  perceptions 

ard  III,  predominantly  9  years  old,  had  had  a  lesson 
on  making  stories  about  a  picture.  This  is  an  excel- 
lent exercise;  but  the  children  did  not  at  once  dis- 
tinguish it  from  the  present  exercise,  which  required 
them  to  say  what  they  actually  saw.  Hence  theii 
interrogatories  were  worse  than  they  would  other- 
wise have  been.  Of  course,  both  these  exercises  are 
valuable  pedagogically  and,  indeed,  should  be  used 
in  distinction  from  each  other.  For  all  ages,  and  f oi 
young  children  especially,  to  distinguish  what  one 
sees  from  what  one  thinks  in  accounting  for  what 
one  sees  is  a  most  valuable  mental  acquisition,  and 
is  rarely  possessed  by  the  mentally  confused  and 
undisciplined. 

The  general  rise  in  the  character  of  the  work  from 
year  to  year  is  more  easily  seen  when  the  organisa- 
tion of  the  schools  into  standards  is  cut  right  across, 
as  it  were;  though  such  a  generalization  might  a1 
least  have  been  guessed  at  with  considerable  prob- 
ability from  the  average  marks  for  the  various  stand- 
ards which  were  given  at  the  end  of  each  descriptive 
section  of  the  work.  The  marks  for  the  childreD 
over  11  should  be  slightly  higher  in  both  boys'  and 
girls'  schools,  for  a  few  of  the  abler  children  after 
that  age  leave  to  attend  secondary  or  central  ele- 
mentary schools.  In  the  girls'  school,  for  example, 
seven  such  children,  on  a  basis  of  fair  sampling, 
would  have  to  be  credited  to  the  13-year-old  section, 
and  five  to  the  12-year-old  section ;  whilst  the  corre- 
sponding figures  for  the  boys  are  very  similar. 

The  sex  difference  in  linguistic  power  as  applied 
to  observation,  small  at  first,  seems  rapidly  to  dif- 
ferentiate with  age,  at  least  up  to  14  years.    But,  of 


THIBD  AND  FOXJBTH  SEBIES  OF  EXPERIMENTS        187 

course,  we  are  not  absolutely  guarded  from  the  pos- 
sibility that  this  is  a  difference  due  to  the  curricu- 
lum and  method  of  teaching  of  the  girls'  school  as 
compared  with  the  boys.  But  there  is  one  considera- 
tion which  makes  it  very  unlikely  that  we  are  deal- 
ing with  an  environmental  difference  rather  than 
one  due  to  sex.  For  there  are  five  class  teachers  in 
the  boys'  and  five  in  the  girls'  school,  and  they  are 
individually  different  in  their  methods.  Yet,  stand- 
ard by  standard,  and  age  by  age,  the  boys  and  girls 
differ  regularly.  It  is  true  that  all  the  girls'  teach- 
ers are  women  and  all  the  boys'  teachers  are  men, 
but  that  brings  us  to  a  sex  difference  over  again. 
The  time-tables  of  the  schools  resemble  each  other 
in  the  time  given  to  work  in  English  Composition 
and  to  observational  work  in  science.  Observational 
work  of  the  kind  given  in  this  experiment  was  new 
to  both  schools. 

The  figures  in  these  tables  now  admit  of  satisfac- 
tory comparison,  age  for  age,  with  those  for  the  in- 
fant schools  given  in  a  preceding  section. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  EVOLUTION  OF  CHILDREN'S  PERCEPTUAL 
JUDGMENTS. 

The  picture  obviously  contains  many  aspects  and 
elements,  and  an  analysis  of  the  children's  answers 
to  the  questions  which  were  asked  will  throw  much 
light  on  their  capacities  and  interests  at  various  ages 
and  grades  of  mental  development. 

I.     Childeen^s  Judgments  due  to  Suggestion. 

It  is  still  a  disputed  point  as  to  whether  there  is 
such  a  thing  as  general  suggestibility,  and  the  fol- 
lowing tables  will  help  us  to  see  how  far  suggestibil- 
ity, if  it  exists,  diminishes  pari  passu  with  advancing 
years  and  intelligence. 

TABLE  XX. 

Suggestibility  in  Infants  (Boys  and  Gibls,  Aged  3  to  7  Years), 

School  A. 

t — Number  of  correct  answers  among — ^ 

'O  t3  'O  ro  fQ 

ajo  coo  «20  ICQ  020 

02.^3  cfl  a5.JjDQ  ^h^  w^vi         cojjaa 

>>^h  ^Sb^  >>M)ii  >>5d^         ^11)52 

O       03  O       03  O       OS  o       03  o  "^  oj 

Xirdgi  '^'OSi  •^'O^  ■^'C^         •^'OS* 

oS^       ofl*^       ol^       o^!^      oa^ 

THeaeo  rnec-^  tHOcud  tH03?o         tHcSt— 

Interrogatory.  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd    1st  2nd    1st  2nd 

Wbat  sort  of  a  hat  was  the  lady 

wearing?  0       1       4       3       4       6       5       7     10     10 

Had  the  Jady   anything  else   in 

her  hand  besides  the  bread  or 

cake  or  basin,  etc.? 33897899     10     10 

What  kind  of  boots  had  the  boy  ?  0  0  1  3  4  3  2  4  8  8 
What  did  you  see  through  the 

open  window? 0077453477 

What  did  you  see  through  the 

open  door? 324S246667 

Did  you  see  a  window  ? 0067343389 

What  color  was  the  carpet? 0013246677 

Did  you  see  a  carpet? 0033245577 

Totals 6       6     34      40     28      38      39      44      63      65 

188 


EVOLUTION  OF  PERCEPTUAL  JUDGMENTS  189 

The  sequence  of  the  figures  will  be  more  conven- 
iently shown  by  means  of  a  table  worked  out  in  per- 
centages. 

TABLE  XXa. 

The  Percentage  of  Resistance  to  Suggestibility  in  Infants  at 
Vabious  Ages,  School  A. 

Age  3  years.  4  years.  5  years.  6  years.  7  years. 

Interrogatory  1st     2nd  1st     2nd  1st     2nd  1st     2nd  1st     2nd 

Percentage  Resistance...  7        7  42       50  85       47  49       55  79       81 

Average  7  46  41  52  80 

The  figures  indicate  an  enormous  decrease  in  sug- 
gestibility (the  numbers  show  the  accurate  answers 
— the  rejections  of  the  suggested  errors)  from  3  to 
4  years  of  age,  and,  with  a  slight  break  at  5  years  of 
age,  show  a  continuous  decrease  up  to  the  age  of  7. 
At  this  age,  the  resistance  to  suggestibility  is  very 
high.  It  is  very  important  to  note  that  the  children 
are  less  susceptible  to  suggestion  the  second  week 
than  the  first.  There  appears  to  be  a  durability 
about  what  was  actually  seen  that  does  not  belong 
to  the  creations  of  the  suggestive  question. 

We  now  proceed  in  the  same  way  to  examine 
the  resistance  to  suggestibility  in  School  B. 

There  are  not  enough  3-year-old  children  in  this 
school — situated  in  a  good  neighborhood  residen- 
tially — to  enable  me  to  take  a  fair  sample;  but  the 
4-year-old  children  show  similar  suggestibility  to 
the  4-year-old  children  of  School  A.  After  this  age, 
the  children  of  School  B  are  markedly  superior,  with 
the  exception  of  the  7-year-old  children.  The  7-year- 
old  children  of  School  B,  it  will  be  remembered,  were 
found  slightly  inferior  generally  to  the  6-year-old 
children  of  the  same  school.  It  seems,  therefore, 
that,  in  impermeability  to  suggested  error,  we  have 


190  children's  perceptions 

TABLE  XXI. 

Suggestibility  in  Infants  (Boys  and  Giels  Aged  4  to  7  Years), 

School  B. 

Number  of  correct  answers  among 

'O  'O  'O  'O 

80^^02  ouiiiaJ         ooJiaj  ^-h  ^ 

>»W)i2        ^W)53       ^W)53        ^SbSl 

^-d^  ^rd^  •^'^Sl  ■^'^^ 

^fl>»     o«^    og^     og'^ 

rHCS'>*<  tHOSiO  t-I83«>  ,-lOJt- 

Interrogatory.  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd 

What  sort  of  a  hat  was  the  lady  wearing?  6  5  6  9  10  10  10  10 
Had  the  lady  anything  else  in  her  hand 

besides  the  bread,  cake,  basin,  etc.?....  9     10       9       9     10     10       8       8 

What  kind  of  boots  had  the  boy  ? 22346555 

What    did    you    see    through    the    open 

window?  46666698 

What  did  you  see  through  the  open  door  ?5       6       67       9       8     10      9 

Did  you  see  a  window  ? 557787     10       9 

What  color  was  the  carpet? 11126866 

Did  you  see  a  carpet? 33348     10       87 

Totals 35     38     41     48     63     64     66     62 

TABLE  XXIa. 

The  Percentage  of  Resistance  to  Suggestibility  in  Infants  at 
Various  Ages,  School  B. 

Age  4  years.  5  years.  6  years.  7  years. 

Interrogatory   1st     2nd  1st     2nd  1st     2nd  1st     2nd 

Percentage  Resistance 44       48  51       60  78       80  83       78 

Average 46  56  79  80 

a  rather  good  criterion  of  general  mental  develop- 
ment. The  superiority  of  School  B  over  School  A 
is  doubtless  due  to  heredity  and  home  environment 
rather  than  to  pedagogical  influences. 

Table  XXII  shows  the  results  with  suggestive 
questions  for  the  girls  in  School  C. 

Since,  however,  the  number  of  children  in  the 
different  standards  or  grades  varied  considerably, 
it  will  be  necessary  in  addition  to  show  the  results 
in  percentages. 

Unless  we  are  prepared  to  throw  the  comparative 
inferiority  of  these  results  to  those  of  the  infant 


EVOLUTION  OF  PERCEPTUAL  JUDGMENTS 


191 


TABLE  XXII. 
Suggestibility  in  Girls  (Aged  8  to  13  Years),  School  C. 

t Number  of  correct  answers  among —^ 

S  S  ^  >  t-  > 

q_|  «l^  t^^  ci^  <l_4  q^ 

cd  ot3  ots  ots  cd  cd 

M  (-1  ti4  t-l  M  (^ 

cooj  «JaJ  ttJeS  «2cj  oogj  ^oj 

l^'d  Tn'd  'iij'd  'S'd  Tn'd  'S'O 

"SdS  "SdS  *Sd§  "Gbg  'S)§  *5d§ 

mM  w^  loM  ^M  Sm  5hS^ 

Interrogatory.  lat  2nd    1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd 

What  sort  of  a  hat  was 

the  lady  wearing? 16     14     12     22     36     36     30     37     19     19     13     16 

Had  the  lady  anything 

else  in  her  hand  besides 

the  bread,  cake,  basin, 

etc.?    25      24     24     20      45      40     35      38      15      18      15      16 

What  kind  of  boots  had 

the  boy? 3       5       4       5     12       7     11     15     10     10     10     12 

What      did      you      see 

through  the  open  win- 
dow?        6       7       5       5      17      33     21     29      17      16     11     15 

What      did      you      see 

through  the  open  door?  10  7  8  6  28  35  27  33  16  16  14  13 
Did  you  see  a  window?  11  10  9  6  26  32  31  33  16  17  15  14 
What     color     was     the 

carpet?   3     10       5      10     27      29      23      34     17      20     12     14 

Did  you  see  a  carpet?..    10     15     19     19     33     35     35     39     19     20     15     14 

Totals 84     92     86     93    224    247    213    258    129    136    105    114 

TABLE  XXIIa. 

The  Percentage  of  Resistance  to  Suggestibility  in  Girls  at 
Various  Grades  of  Proficiency,  School  C. 

Standard   <-II.-^  r-HI.-^  r-IV.-^  r-V.-^  r-VI.-^    r-VII.-> 

Interrogatory  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd   1st  2nd 

Percentage  Resistance..    31      34  36     39  55      60  65     78  81     85     82     89 

Average    32  37             58             72             83             86 

schools  upon  the  variations  in  method — the  girls 
wrote  their  answers,  the  infants  had  theirs  written 
for  them,  and  the  girls  answered  their  first  interroga- 
tory the  day  after  seeing  the  picture  whilst  the  in- 
fants answered  theirs  immediately  afterwards —  we 
must  admit  a  remarkable  set-back  in  the  early  years 
of  the  senior  school.  There  is  a  regularity  about  the 
figures  which  quite  excludes  'chance.'  It  may  be 
that  the  definite  acquisition  of  knowledge  in  reading, 
writing,  arithmetic,  and  other  school  studies  has  tern- 


192  ohildbbn'b  pbboeptions 

porarily  weakened  that  attitude  of  inquiry  which  the 
growing  infant  manifests  so  markedly;  it  may  be 
an  increasing  subordination  to  the  teacher  which  the 
work  of  the  senior  school  demands,  resulting  in  an 
increased  suggestibility.  Of  the  causes  I  am  doubt- 
ful, but  the  fact  seems  clear  that  it  is  not  until  Stand- 
ard V  (with  an  average  age  of  11+)  is  reached  that 
the  girls  are  equal  to  5  and  6-year-old  children  in 
their  power  to  resist  erroneous  suggestion.  There  is 
one  olhcr  fnctor  of  course;  tho  infants  are  boys  and 
girls  inix(Ml,  I  he  girls'  departiruMii  coninins  girls  only. 
There  is  one  point  of  compldc  ;iKi<'<'ni('fit  between 
tho  girls  and  infants;  the  second  week's  answers  are 
better  than  the  first. 

Let  us  now  turn  to  the  work  of  the  boys  of  the 
same  scliool. 

TIk^  miMiher  of  boys  in  the  various  grades  or 
staii(l;ir<ls  xMiicd  considerably  not  only  from  each 
ollici',  Imij  ;iIs()  rroin  ilic  coi  responding  grades  in  tho 
girls'  departments,  yo  the  numbers  will  be  shown  in 
percentages  (Table  XXITTa). 

The  boys  compnre  nnr.ivornbly  with  the  infants: 
the  discussion  of  \\\r  (';ins(^s  need  not  be  repeated. 
There  seeins  llic  s.nnc  set-back  in  the  early  years 
of  senior  school  life.  In  the  early  grades  the  boys 
are  less  sng^-estihle  Mian  the  ,s;irls.  At  Standard  IV 
they  are  ap|)r(>\iniatel\  the  same,  and  in  later  stand- 
ards the  ii^irls  show  a  denuded  Superiority.  It  is  pos- 
sible, as  we  have  explained  already,  that  the  subject- 
mattcu*  niaN  aeconnt  soiru^what  for  IhiH.  But  on  the 
otli(M-  hand  the  (leer(\*ised  suggestibility  may  be  a 
part  of  the  more  rapid  physical  and  nKwital  growth 
of  the  girls  at  these  ages;  for,  in  certain  aspects  of 


EVOLUTION  OF  PBBOBPTUAL  JUDGMENTS  193 

TABLE]  XXIIL 

SuaOKSTIBILITY  OF  BOY«   (AgBD  8  TO  18  YBABS),  SOIIOOL  0. 

, Number  of  correct  aniwori  among  ^ 

'    ri         H         fc'        >:        EJ         t 

•.If        ll-     If       ll       If        ll 

yi  sS       n&  '     ^S      n£      mS       %^ 

Interrogatory.  lit  2n(l   iHt  2nd  lit  2nd  lit  2nd  lit  2nd  lit  2nd 

What  lort  of  a  bat  wai 
the  lady  wearing? 4a     47     27     23     28     20     22     28     17     20      8      % 

Had  the  lady  anything; 
elie  In  her  hand  beMidoM 

what   you    have    told  _     ^«      -     -^ 

me   about? 86     48     23     20     20     32     27     27     21     22       9     10 

What  lort  of  booti  had 
tiM.  hoy? 18     12      13       0     18      19       9      10       B     10       4       a 

VVImi  Hid  you  m<'« 
Mii-oukIi  the  open  win- 
dow?      27     22     16     26     19     27     18     17     22     24       7       7 

WliMt  did  you  leo 
throuKti  the  open  door?   26     25     18     16     28     19     16     17     16     12       8       8 

Did  vou  Hee  u  window?    10     22     13     20     24     28     18     14     19     22       7       9 

What  wiiH  the  color  of 
the    earpet? 11     16     20     28     27     27     22     26     22     23       9       8 

Did  you  Hee  a  carpet  ..    20     24     24     26     81     28     26     87     86     26       9      9 

Totali 1m  llO  1m  IS  "l94  "206  Im    166    148    168     60     61 

TABLE  XXIIIa, 

Tub  Percentage  oir  IIkhihtanck  to  Huoobbtibility  in   Boy»  at 
VABIOUH  GttADEB  OF  Pbofioibnoy,  Sohool  0. 

HiMiidnrd   MW  r-ni.-5  r-W.-^  r-V.-^  r-VI.-j.  r-VII.-^ 

liit<rioKMt<>i y   lit  2nd  lit  2nd  lit  2nd  lit  2nd  lit  2nd  lit  2nd 

I'<r<MiiUiK<-  il<HiMl>ince..    48     62  46     60  69     68  68     02  71     70  70     76 

Average  DO             48  61             60            74             78 

mental  capacity,  girls  arc  (hu'i'dedly  superior  to  boys 
at  these  ages,  though  inlorior  in  others,  such  as 
draftsmanship  and  the  functions  of  abstract  reason- 
ing. We  are,  of  course,  comi)aring  boys  and  girls 
of  the  same  social  grade ;  without  this  identity  all  our 
conclusions  as  to  the  mental  differences  of  boys 
and  girls  are  exposed  to  serious  error  arising  from 
difference  in  class  or  social  environment. 


194  children's  perceptions 

II.    Children's  Perceptions  of  Clothes. 

Many  of  the  questions  dealing  with  the  clothing 
of  the  woman  and  the  boy  are  of  a  suggestive  nature, 
sometimes  leading  to  error  as  in  the  question  ^'What 
sort  of  boots  had  the  boy  T '   In  others,  such  as  ^  ^  Had 

TABLE  XXIV. 

Peeceptions  of  Clothes  Among  Infants  (Aged  3  to  7  Yeabs), 

School  A. 

t — Number  of  correct  answers  among — > 

fQ  ^3  'Q  iQ  fQ 

WO  02  O  05 "o  053  05 "3 

05  tj  CQ  05  J;J  CQ  05*12  ™  05  ^  OO  03  J;*   05 

^^'Si^         ^'SoS         ^*3)J3         ^'Sbt*       ^*5bi: 

Ow  O03  ©03  OOJ  OflJ 

^'d^        xj'dgi        xi-d^        xi-dgi       xj'd*' 
ofl^        ofl^        oS^        oS^       oO^ 

Interrogatory.  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd 

What    clothes    was    the     lady 

wearing?   0444666799 

What     clothes     was     the     boy 

wearing?   1111344547 

Totals 1       5       5       5       9     10     10     12     13     16 

Percentages   correct 5     25     25     25     45     50     50     60     65     80 

Average  percentage 15  25  48  55  73 

TABLE  XXV. 

Pebceptions  op  Clothes  Among  Infants   (Aged  4  to  7  Yeabs), 

School  B. 

Number  of  correct  answers  among 

•O  nd  n3  'O 

CQO  QQO  05O  05O 

oQij  03  n*:*  CO         CO  ^j  00  CO  *j  en 

>>U!ij        ^^UlS       ^W)!!2        f*»UliJ 

.5rO«  ^-OSi        ^'OSi  ^T3gi 

^p>>     ^p>»    ^flt»»     ^p>» 

Interrogatory.  1st  2nd   1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd 

What  clothes  was  the  lady  wearing? 35565676 

What  clothes  was  the  boy  wearing? ^111112.1 

Totals 9     13     13     15     12     14     16     15 

Percentages  correct 45     65     65     75     60     70     80     75 

Average  percentage 55  70  65  78 


EVOLUTION  OF  PERCEPTUAL  JUDGMENTS  195 

the  lady  a  frock  on?,"  which  assist  to  re-establish  a 
forgotten  percept  or  act  independently  of  it,  the 
right  answer  is  suggested.  Two  questions  as  to  the 
clothes  are,  however,  quite  free,  at  least  at  first, 
from  the  influences  of  suggestion.  These  questions 
are  '^What  clothes  was  the  lady  wearing? '^  and 
^^What  clothes  was  the  boy  wearing?" 

TABLE  XXVI. 

Perceptions  of  Clothes  Among  Gibls  (Aged  8  to  13  Yea.bs), 

School  C. 

f Number  of  correct  answers  among ^ 

_;  tf  u  .  H?  H 

S  G  l-I  >  >  > 

9-1.  «M_  «M_  «H_^  «H_  *H_^ 

O'O  CO  CO  CO  CO  CO 

U)  M  f^  (h  M  M 

^  ei  ^  d  ^  ei  ^  si  '^oS  ^'^o^ 

'^'2  'f-*'^  '*^'2  '^'2  '*^'2  ''^'2 

•Qg      -ag      -ag      -ag      -ag      ug 

mM  wM  irtW             ^m             mM  Sw 

Interrogatory.           1st  2nd  1st  2n(i  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd 
What   clothes   was   the 

lady   wearing? 10     11  12     23  32     42  36     39     17     19  16     16 

What   clothes   was    the 

boy  wearing? 11     20  5     20  25     45  36     40     16     18  16     16 

Totals 21     31     17     43     57     87     72     79     33     37     32     31 

Percentage   correct 31     45     28     71     56     85     88     96     83     93    100     97 

Average  percentage 38  50  71  92  88  98 

TABLE  XXVII. 

Perceptions  of  Clothes  Among  Boys  (Aged  8  to  13  Yeabs), 
School  C. 
f Number  of  correct  answers  among ^ 

•  •  .  hJ 

J^        ^s        ^^         ^>       ^>       ^> 

ots  0*0  OXJ  0*0  o"^  CO 

^  ^  M  f^  M  ^ 

OQej  OQOS  OSOI}  OQcd  <nej  BOgJ 

>>'a  ^J^O  ^'O  >*'0  >>'0  >»'0 

gfl  gfl  gfl  oa  Ofl  gfl 

■^00  ''^ed  -^od  •'^cd  •^ti  ■^03 

Sm          ^m         ^Jm  ?Sm  ^m  Sw 

Interrogatory.           1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd 
What   clothes    was    the 

lady   wearing? 19     16  11     13  20     15  12     10       8       5  7       6 

What   clothes   was    the 

boy  wearing? 35     34  23     25  21     23  20     26     17     17  8       9 

Totals 54     50     34     38     41     38     32     36     25     22     15     15 

Percentages  correct 54     50     40     45     50     46     49     55     48     42     75     75 

Average  percentage 52  43  48  52  45  75 


196  CHILDREN'S   PERCEPTIONS 

A  scrutiny  of  the  foregoing  tables  shows,  as  in 
previous  cases,  the  superiority  of  the  infants  of 
School  B  to  those  of  School  A,  which  seems  consid- 
erable in  their  greater  knowledge  of  the  clothes  the 
boy  was  wearing.  The  general  superiority  of  the 
answers  of  the  second  interrogatory  may  be  due  to 
the  suggestive  influences  of  some  of  the  questions 
which  were  asked  the  first  week,  such  as  ^^Had  the 
lady  an  apron  or  pinafore  on?"  and  *^What  color 
was  the  boy's  coat  or  jacket?" 

In  the  younger  classes  of  the  senior  schools  there 
seems,  at  first,  a  decline,  more  marked  among  the 
girls  than  the  boys ;  but  the  girls  show  much  improv- 
ability  and  definitely  surpass  the  boys  in  their  higher 
standards.  In  fact,  notwithstanding  the  influence  of 
the  suggestive  questions  of  the  first  interrogatory, 
the  boys'  knowledge  of  the  woman's  clothes,  poor  at 
first,  is  worse  the  second  week  than  it  was  the  week 
before. 

The  results  of  Standard  III  in  the  girls'  depart- 
ment show  the  peculiarity  which  I  have  already  com- 
mented upon  and  explained. 

III.    Children's  Perceptions  of  Position. 

The  interest  attaching  to  this  group  of  answers  is 
considerable,  not  only  for  the  closeness  of  the  results 
for  boys  and  girls  and  for  their  general  poorness, 
but  as  illustrating  the  advance  from  one  week  to  the 
next  in  a  case  where  no  suggestive  influence,  except 
of  course  the  stimulation  which  a  question  always 
gives,  could  arise  in  consequence  of  the  first  week's 
interrogatory. 


EVOLUTION  OF  PERCEPTUAL  JUDGMENTS 


197 


TABLE  XXVIII. 

Perceptions  of  Position  Among  Infants  (Aged  3  to  7  Yeabs), 

School  A. 

t — Number  of  correct  answers  among — > 

*»  'O  TS  *©  'O 

Bo'o  oq'o  05  "o  05  "o  la's 

>>Ui3         >>UiJ        >»U^         >»^t3        >»Tiis 
x-TJ^       ^^g>      •^'oSl       •^'^fal      •ci'aSiL 

^  fl  >»         o<^^        ofi^         e>fl^       ofl*^ 
»=JoSeo  ?:<«}'«*'         Soau3  ?^(33«o        SoJr- 

Interrogatory.  1st  2nd   1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd 

Which  side  of  the  table  was  the 

lady  standing? 1146569989 

Whereabouts  on  the   table  was 

the  knife? 2223665645 

Where  were  the  boy'^  feet  ? 1155235555 

Where  was  the  flower-pot? 47799989     10     10 

How  was  the  lady  holding  the 

bread  or  cake  or  basin,  etc.?...  0000000011 
How  was  the  boy  holding  what 

he  had  in  his  hand?  0001243200 

Totals 8     11     18      24     24     28      30     31     28     30 

Percentage  correct 13     18     30     40     40     47     50     52     47     50 

Average  percentage 16  35  43  51  48 


TABLE  XXIX. 

Perceptions  of  Position  Among  Infants  (Aged  4  to  7  Years), 

School  B. 


Number  of  correct  answers  among 


'\S                  'O  'O                  '^ 

ID  O                   tf)  O  05  O                   00*3 

bUi       ^S)i3  >»^^       >*Ttih 

^tsgi      ^x3^  ^'a^      ^'Og' 

Interrogatory.                                          1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd 

Which   side  of  the  table  was   the   lady 

standing?  8       7     10     10  10     10     10     10 

Whereabouts  on  the  table  was  the  knife?     5       6       8       8  10     10       8     10 

Where  were  the  boy's  feet? 11442356 

Where  was  the  flower-pot? 9       9       8       9  10     10     10     10 

How  was  the  lady  holding  the  bread,  or 

cake,  or  basin,  etc.  ? 00000000 

How  was  the  boy  holding  what  he  had 

in  his  hand? 0100  10       954 

Totals 23      24      30      31  42      42      38      39 

Percentage  correct 38     40     50     52  70     70     63     65 

Average  percentage 39             51  70             64 


198  CHILDEEN^S   PERCEPTIONS 

Comments  on  Tables  XXVIII  and  XXIX. 

The  superiority  of  the  children  of  School  B  over 
those  of  School  A  is  shown  at  every  age.  The  4-year- 
old  children  of  School  B  (there  is  no  sample  of  3- 
year-old  children  for  this  school)  obtain  39  per  cent. 
(38  +  40  divided  by  2)  of  correct  answers  compared 
with  35  per  cent,  for  School  A.  The  6-year-old  chil- 
dren of  School  B  score  70  per  cent.,  those  of  School 
A  51  per  cent.  The  7-year-old  children  of  School  A 
and  B  score  48  and  64  per  cent.,  respectively.  In 
this  respect,  therefore,  there  is  a  drop  in  both  schools 
from  the  age  of  6  to  that  of  7  years.  The  advance 
from  the  first  week  to  the  second  is  practically  in- 
variable. 

TABLE  XXX. 

Perceptions  of  Position  Among  Girls  (Aged  8  to  13  Years), 
School  C. 

t Number  of  correct  answers  among x 

•-*  3         ^  b.;  S         ^ 

M  l-H  H-l  P*-  K"  *> 

(H  *M  <M  <M  4-<  %^ 

otS  ccJ  oTi  cd  cd  CO 

M  Pi  (h  fH  (^  tM 

S'S       S'd      '^'rt       '^'rt       '*^'rt      ?'S 

^m  ^M  S^  ^^  mM  Jhcq 

Interrogatory.  1st  2nd    1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd 

Which  side  of  the  table  ^       _     ^^  ^^  ^„  ^^ 

was  the  lady  standing?  21     21     14     17     35     42     34     37     18  15  13  15 

Whereabouts'     on      the  ^             ^^  ^^  ^„  ^„ 

table  was  the  knife?.  26     26     15     23     43     43     35     38     16  16  12  12 

Where    were   the    boy's  ^     ^^  ^^  ^^  ^^ 

feet?  14     12     15     18     33     34     28     30     10  10  10  10 

Where  was  the  flower-  ^  ^^  ^^  ^^ 

pot?  22      26     14     19      33      41     34      38      15  18  14  15 

How  was  the  lady  hold- 
ing  the    bread,    cake, 

basin,  etc.? 010000110100 

How  was  the  boy  hold- 
ing   what    he   had   in 

his  hand? 110000010043 

Totals 84      87      58      77    144    160    132    145      59      60      53      55 

Percentage  correct 41     42     32     43     47     52     54     59     49     50     55     57 

Average  percentage 42  38  50  56  50  56 


EVOLUTION  OF  PEKCEPTUAL  JUDGMENTS 


199 


TABLE  XXXI. 

Pebceptions  of  Position  Among  Boys  (Aged  8  to  13  Years), 
School  C. 

t Number  of  correct  answers  among ^ 

^d      ^5       ^fc  j^      J>       ^ 

o'd           o'O            o'cJ  o"^           CO            ©"CJ 

*^                                  ^                                     M  (>4                                  t^                                     f^ 

ODoj                09eS                 <»od  OOsj               CQO^                 ccqS 

P^fQ               ^XJ                 ^'O  >>T3                f^'v3                 >i'0 

Ofl          Pa           ofl  Pfl          ©a           Op 

Sm         ^S          5Jm  ?3m         §5m          Sm 

Interrogatory.           1st  2nd    1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd 

Which  side  of  the  table 

was  the  lady  standing?    33     39      33      31     34     36  26     27     19     20       9       9 

Whereabouts      on      the 

table  was  the  knife  .    27     31     33      34     28     32  29     28     17     21       8       7 

Where    were   the    boy's 

feet?   27      30     25      28      31      31  20      23      19      23       8       8 

Where  was  the  flower- 
pot?      30      29      31      31      26      30  25      30      21      23       9      10 

How  was  the  lady  hold- 
ing the  bread,  cake, 
basin,  etc 000000001000 

How  was  the  boy  hold- 
ing  what    he   had   in 

his   hand? 00002       0  110000 

Totals 117    129    122    124    121    129  101    109      77      87      34      34 

Percentage  correct 39     43     48     49     49     53  51     55     49     56     57     57 

Average  percentage 41             49             51  53             53             57 

■    Comments  on  Tables  XXX  and  XXXI 


Grade  by  grade  the  boys  and  girls  approximate 
very  closely  in  their  perceptions  of  position;  there 
are,  indeed,  slight  indications  here  and  there  that 
the  boys  are  more  accurate  than  the  girls.  The  re- 
sults for  Standard  HI  class  of  girls  are  very  in- 
ferior ;  it  will  be  remembered  that  many  of  the  chil- 
dren in  this  class  looked  at  the  picture  to  make 
stories  about  it  rather  than  to  make  accurate  obser- 
vations. We  see  again  the  characteristic  drop  in  the 
lower  standards  of  the  senior  departments  as  com- 
pared with  the  older  infants. 


200  childken's  perceptions 

IV.    Children's  Perceptions  of  Activities. 

Questions  concerning  the  activities  of  persons  rep- 
resented in  the  picture  rarely  fail  to  receive  an  an- 
swer; errors  arise  rather  from  the  inference  to  a 
previous  activity  than  the  neglect  of  observation, 
so  to  speak,  of  the  present  activity. 

TABLE  XXXII. 

Perceptions  of  Actions  Among  Infants  (3  to  7  Years), 
School  A. 

t — Number  of  correct  answers  among — v 

'C3  'O  t3  '3  'O 

WO  xn  o  02O  rn  o  ^  O 

m  ^  ta         05^05  w  ^  ai         05^  w         ta^m 

^'bub         ^'bSib  ^'ttib         ^'bob         >*'bSiti 

OCS  ooS  ocS  003  ©OS 

^  fl  >»      o  «=5  ofl  o«  oO 

Interrogatory.  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd 

What  was  the  lady  doing? 7999999999 

What  was  the  boy  doing? 7       9     10     10     10     10     10     10     10     10 

Totals 14      18      19      19      19      19      19      19      19      19 

Percentage  correct 70     90     95     95     95     95     95     95     95     95, 

Average  percentage 80  95  95  95  95 

TABLE  XXXIII. 

Perception  of  Actions  Among  Infants  (4  to  7  Years), 
School  B. 

Number  of  correct  answers  among 

2  T)  'O  "p 

tn  O  05O  oso  SCO 

05  *j  03         02^  »3         cc  ^  aj  OS  *2  oa 

>iVibi       ^"Scb       f^'^b       >»W)^ 
jar^joj'       ^'dSi      •^'Ogl       •^'^^ 

Interrogatory.  1st  2nd  1st  2nd   1st  2nd  1st  2nd 

What  was  the  lady  doing? 10     10       9       9     10     10     10     10 

What  was  the  boy  doing? 10     10     10     10     10     10     10     10 

Totals 20      20      19      19      20     20     20      20 

Percentage  correct 100    100     95     95    100    100    100    100 

Average  percentage 100  95  100  100 


EVOLUTION  OF  PERCEPTUAL  JUDGMENTS  201 


TABLE  XXXIV. 

Peeceptions  of  Actions  Among  Gibls  (8  to  13  Years), 
School  C. 

I Number  of  correct  answers  among ^ 

ri  H::!           &  >            ?  > 

<M  <M                          <M  4-4                            <M  (M 

otJ  CO           o'O  cd            CO  o'O 

(-•  K-l                                  ^  M                                     tH  t4 

"^03  wjjjj              50o3  ^oj                ^03  Wed 

fcJ'O  ^"O             7310  'S'O              Th'O  X*'0 

*5b§  *5l)§          *5c§  '5b  g           "beg  "Gog 

M^  ^S          S^  53m           Sm  ^w 

Interrogatory.           1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd 

What     was     the     lady 

doing?   24     23  21     22      36     38  31     31     13     15  14     14 

What      was     the     boy 

doing?   34      32  24      26      44      45  40      39      19      20  14      16 

Totals 58      55  45      48      80      83  71     70      32      35  28     30 

Percentage  correct 85     81  75     80     78     81  87     85     80     87  88     94 

Average  percentage 83  78             80  86             84  91 


TABLE  XXXV. 

Pebceptions  of  Actions  Among  Boys  (8  to  13  Yeabs), 
School  C. 

( Number  of  correct  answers  among ^ 

HH             H          >  -^  kj  t::*  t:^ 

t-l                          |-(                    H-t  >  >"  >• 

ov                    O^               0*0  O'O  O^  CO 

M                           ^U                           M  M  U  U 

>>»0                           ^-O                    f*!-©  P^J-O  P*!-©  >J'S 

5g                 ^§             ^g  ig  5g  ^g 

Sm            ^m         ^m  g§M  ^w  Sm 

Interrogatory.           1st  2nd    1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd 

What     was     the     lady 

doing?  31  24   18  23  21  29  24  23  18  23  9   10 

What     was      the     boy 

doing     41      44      36      42      40      38  32      31  25      25  10     10 

Totals 72      68      54      65      61      67  56      54  43      48  19      20 

Percentage  correct 72     68     64     77     74     82  85     82  83     92  95    100 

Average  percentage 70             71             78  83  88  98 


202 


CHILDREN  S   PERCEPTIONS 


TABLE  XXXVL 

Perceptions  of  Things  Among  Infants  (3  to  7  Years), 
School  A. 

t — Number  of  correct  answers  amoQg — ^ 

fQ  rQ  iQ  fQ  iQ 

ob'o  W20  mo  xn  o  xn  o 

OS^OJ  05^05  05^02  M.^I^OQ  XH  }-^  Xtl 

>»'5d5:1         >>'Si)5j       >»Sd^         >^^h       ^M)i 

^r^o  XS-dSi        •^'C5gi         •^'CJS.        '=^''3^1 

Interrogatory.  1st  2n(i  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd 

What  else  was  on  the  table  be- 
sides the  thing  the  lady  was 
holding?  1114487999 

Did  you  see  anything  under  the 
boy's  chair? 2567793489 

Did  you  see  anything  on  the 
floor  near  the  jug,  and  if  you 
did,  what  was  it? 2       2       8       8     10     10     10     10       9       9 

Totals 5       8      15      19      21      27      20      23      26     27 

Percentage  correct 17     27     50     63     70     90     67     77     87     90 

Average  percentage 22  57  80  72  88 


TABLE  XXXVII. 

Perceptions  of  Things  Among  Infants  (4  to  7  Years), 
School  B. 

Number  of  correct  answers  among 


"O                   "O  TJ  "O 

BOO              xn  o  xn  o  xn  o 

xnUm         xn^xn  xn^xn  xn^xn 

>>"5b^       >»*5ot3  ^5d^  ^-'So^ 

0«J           o^  Ow  ooJ 

xj-d^      ^'OSi  -^-^Si  •^'«Si 

oO^      o«^  o«^  oQ^ 

Interrogatory.                                          1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd 

What  else  was  there  on  the  table  besides 

the  thing  the  lady  was  holding? 1       5       4       8  8     10  6     10 

Did  you   see   anything   under   the   boy's 

chair? 46464567 

Did  you  see  anything  on  the  floor  near 

the  jug,  and  if  you  did,  what  was  it?..      88779977 

Totals 13      19     15      21  21     24  19      24 

Percentage  correct 43     63     50     70  70     80  63     80 

Average  percentage 53             60  75  72 


EVOLUTION  OF  PERCEPTUAL  JUDGMENTS  203 

Comments  on  Tables  XXXII,  XXXIII,  XXXIV 
and  XXXV. 

So  far  as  the  observation  of  simple  activities  are 
concerned,  it  is  extremely  doubtful  whether,  during 
school-life,  there  is  any  evolution  at  all. 

V.    Children's  Perceptions  of  Things. 

It  is  well  known  that  children  observe  and  indicate 
^persons'  before  *  things,'  and  also  that  the  enumer- 
ation of  things  is  a  very  early  stage  in  the  evolution 
of  perception ;  it  is  indeed  marked  among  children  of 
3  years  of  age.  But  there  are  certain  things  repre- 
sented in  the  picture  that  are  by  no  means  obvious, 
such,  for  instance,  as  the  knife  on  the  table,  the  vase 
under  the  boy's  chair,  and  the  satchel  on  the  floor 
close  by.  Other  questions  relating  to  the  observa- 
tion of  things  in  the  picture  contain  a  large  ele- 
ment of  suggestion  and  have  been  excluded  from  the 
following  tables. 

Comments  on  Tables  XXXVI,  XXXVII, XXXVIII 
and  XXXIX. 

The  older  infants  score  heavily  as  compared  with 
the  boys  and  girls,  and  the  comparison  between  the 
boys  and  the  girls  themselves  seems  to  show  no 
definite  and  continuous  differences.  The  abler  chil- 
dren soon  become  aware  that  they  had  more  than 
once  been  questioned  about  non-existent  things; 
there  was  therefore  a  slight  tendency  among  them 
to  answer  these  questions  in  the  negative.  A  vivid 
memory  of  the  knife,  jug  and  satchel  doubtless  over- 
came this  tendency,  but  dubious  memories  would  not 
overcome  it. 


204  children's   PERCEPTIOlSrS 

TABLE  XXXVIII. 

Pebceptions  of  Things  Among  Girls   (8  to  13  Yeabs), 
School  C. 

f Number  of  correct  answers  among ^ 

S  !=!  ;^  ;>  >  > 

«M_,  *>-'_.  '*-'_  *•-'_  •*-• I  *'-^_^ 

Co  CO  CO  Co  Co  CO 

i-K                         ^  M  N  M  ^ 

oQoj  a!c3»  «ica  o^cd  ^'cd  ^OeS 

Th'O  'S'O  'ZJ'O  'S'O  'Sts  'S'5 

^cS  ^cS  oC^  bfi^  tfi^  U)^ 

w>m  ^m  koM         ^M  ^M         Jhoq 

Interrogatory.  1st  2nd    1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd 

What  else  was  there  on 

the  table   besides   the 

thing    the    lady    was 

holding?  12      23      17      23      38      44     29      38      16     16      12      12 

Did    you    see    anything 

under  the  boy's  chair?    17     18     18     23     30     29     18     20     11     10       7       6 
Did    you    see    anything 

on  the  floor  near  the 

jug,    and   if   you    did, 

what  was  it? 20      20      22      21      39      83      28      29      14     17       9      10 

Totals 49      61     57      67    107    106      75      87      41     43     28      28 

Percentage  correct 48     60     63     74     70     69     61     71     68     72     58     58 

Average  percentage 54  69  70  66  70  58 

TABLE  XXXIX. 

Perceptions  of  Things  Among  Boys   (8  to  13  Years), 
School  C. 

, Number  of  correct  answers  among ^ 

j^       jx      ^b      ^>       ^?      ^ 

cd  o"^  c^  o"^  cd  o''^ 

M  cij  Was  «2  cS  w  d  Med  «  oj 

>i'0  >*'0  >»'t3  f=*>'d  ^'O  ^jTS 

Ofl  Ofl  Ofl  Ori  Orf  Ofl 

Sm  %m         ^m         n^  ^w         Sw 

Interrogatory.  1st  2nd    1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd 

What  else  was  there  on 

the  table   besides   the 

thing    the    lady    was 

holding?  26     26     28      34      26      33      27      30     16     20       7       7 

Did    you    see    anything 

under  the  boy's  chair  ?    15     22     19     30     27     28     17     24     17     18       6       6 
Did    you    see    anything 

on  the  floor  near  the 

jug,    and   if   you    did, 

what  was  it? 17      15      25      31      35      35      21     25      18      20     10       7 

Totals 58      63      72      95      88      96      65      79      51      58     23      20 

Percentage  correct 39     42     57     75     72     78     66     80     65     74     77     67 

Average  percentage 40  66  75  73  70  72 


EVOLUTION  OF  PERCEPTUAL  JUDGMENTS  205 

VI.    Children's  Perceptions  of  Number. 

There  are  two  questions  dealing  with  number,  the 
one  relating  to  the  number  of  flowers,  the  other  to 
the  number  of  leaves.  It  may  be  of  interest  and 
value  to  note  how  far,  if  at  all,  the  spontaneous  in- 
terest in,  and  perception  of,  mere  number  appears  to 
develop. 

TABLE  XL. 

Perceptions  of  Number  Among  Infants  (3  to  7  Years), 
School  A. 

,. — Number  of  correct  answers  among — s 

tQ  ^X^  ^Q  T3  'O 

OJ^OS  CC^OJ  05  .^M  ODi^CO  ^  h  ?^ 

&si^     g>s,;3     g^siS      g^us      &w)S 

xjrd^      ^-dg:      ^-dSl       •^'^bl       •^'^bi 

tHOScO  tHOS-*  S«IU3  ^^OS'X)  iHOSt- 

Interrogatory.  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd 

How  many  flowers  were  there?..      4212225533 
How  many  leaves  were  there?...     0000000000 

Totals 4212225533 

Percentage  correct 20     10       5     10     10     10     25     25     15     15 

Average  percentage 15  7.5  10  25  15 

TABLE  XLL 

Perceptions  of  Number  Among  Infants   (4  to  7  Years), 
School  B. 

Number  of  correct  answers  among 

13  ts  "O  *© 

05  "o  05  "o  Od'o  05  3 

05.JiaJ  05^02  COi^OS  00^05 

^tab  >*bo^  >*Tsib  >>W)iJ 
xj-o^  jdts^  xj'dS^  .Q'd^ 
^p^      <^a^       0'='         oC3^ 

Interrogatory.  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd 

How  many  flowers  were  there? 56443244 

How  many  leaves  were  there? 00000000 

Totals 56443244 

Percentage  correct 25     30     20     20     15     10     20     20 

Average  percentage 28  20  13  20 


206  CHILDREN'S   PERCEPTIONS 


TABLE  XLII. 

Peeceptions  of  Number  Among  Giels  (8  to  13  Years), 
School  O. 

r Number  of  correct  answers  among ^ 

S            G            ^  >           k            l> 

CM                            ^M                            CM  ^M                         CM                            Cm 

CO            cd            ot3  cd           cd            o'd 

M                          ^                          M  M                        M                          ^ 

WJcS                ^oS               *eS  ^83              ''^cS               *o3 

'S'd            Tn'd           'S'd  'S'd           m'O           [S'd 

*5bg           '5i§           *Sd§  *5i§          *5i§            mS 

moq           ^^           loM  51^          '^m          55w 

Interrogatory.           1st  2nd    1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd 

How  many  flowers  were 

there?  7       6       9       9     12     12  12     11     10       8       0       2 

How  many  leaves  were 

there?  021021113000 

Totals 7       8     10       9     14     13  13     12     13       8       0       2 

Percentage  correct 10     12     16     15      13     12  16     15     32     20       0       6 

Average  percentage 11             16             13  15             26              3 


TABLE  XLIII. 

Perceptions  of  Number  Among  Boys   (8  to  13  Years), 
School  C. 

( Number  of  correct  answers  among ^ 

CM^  j^  ^  CM^  CM^  CM^ 

o'd  cd  c'd  o'd  ©"d  o'd 

i-K  u  i-^  u  u  u 

XJl  ^  XD  (a  Wot}  CQCtj  CCOJ  COS} 

t>5X3  >»'d  >5'd  ^"d  ^^3  ^'d 

go  Op  ©a  Ofl  oq  pfl 

gM  ^M  ^W  g?M  §^M  Sm 

Interrogatory.  1st  2nd    1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd 

How  many  flowers  were 

there?  11       8     15     13     10       6     12     13       5     10       7       4 

How  many  leaves  were 

there?  003205121001 

Totals 11       8     18     15     10     11     13     15       6     10       7       5 

Percentage  correct 11       8     21     18     12     13     20     23     12     19     35     25 

Average   percentage 10  20  13  21  15  30 


EVOLUTION  OF  PERCEPTUAL  JUDGMENTS  207 

Comments  on  Tables  XL,  XLI,  XLII  and  XLIII. 

The  spontaneous  interest  in  number  is  small  and 
shows  no  appreciable  or  steady  development.  It  is 
of  considerable  importance  in  connection  with  this 
weakness  that  the  second  week's  results  are  not  bet- 
ter than  those  of  the  week  before.  The  children 
notice  the  numbers  but  little  and,  compared  with 
their  other  memories,  forget  them  easily. 


TABLE  XLIV. 

Perceptions  of  Color  Among  Infants   (3  to  7  Years), 
School  A. 

/ — Number  of  correct  answers  among — ^ 

*Q  r^  PQ  »^  r^ 

02  "O  02  "O  02  O  OJ  O  02  O 

^h  ^  ojMco  oQ^jaj         «i3?J  OiJ^ta 

bSoii         ^thb         ^tkb       bW)j3        bW)ti 

OCJ  ocS  Ow  ow  OflS 

^73^        ^Ti^        ^-d^      ^-dgi       XJ-dg* 

?HSJCO  iHOJ'*  tHCSU3  r-i  dtO  iHCSb- 

Interrogatory.  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd 

What  color  was  (or  were)  — 
The   lady's   blouse    (or  the   top 

part  of  her  frock)  ? 3322457877 

The  lady's  skirt  (or  the  bottom 

part  of  her  frock)  ? 4463545767 

The  lady's  apron  or  pinafore?...  3345336754 

The  lady's  boots  or  shoes? 2677778965 

The  lady's  hair? 0023544577 

The  boy's  coat  or  jacket? 1100112122 

The  boy's  knickers  or  trousers?.  0111112333 

The  boy's  boots  or  shoes? 3587898877 

The  boy's  stockings? 3232012143 

The  boy's  hair? 2211554566 

The  table? 0011123266 

The  knife? 0034789988 

The  flowers? 3       3       6       9     10     10     10     10     10     10 

The  leaves? 2       2       8       8       9       9     10     10     10     10 

The  flower-pot 229999     10     10       99 

The  box? 0002766699 

The  jug  or  vase? 0001322244 

The  walls  of  the  room? 2300002223 

Totals 30     37      61      65      85      86    100    105    111    110 

Percentage  correct 17      20     34     36     47     48     55      58     61     61 

Average  percentage 19  35   '         48  S6  62 


208  CHILDKEN^S   PEKCEPTIONS 

VII.    Children's  Perceptions  of  Color. 

Even  a  comparatively  unobservant  reader  can 
scarcely  have  failed  to  note,  from  time  to  time,  how 
very  little  attention  children  seem  to  have  given  to 
the  colors  in  the  picture,  even  though,  in  many  cases, 
the  objects  are  purposely  colored  in  such  an  unusual 
way  as  to  arrest  attention.  As  one  child  said  during 
her  self-correction,  ^^ Isn't  the  boy  dressed  funny? 
If  I  saw  him  coming  along  the  street  like  that,  I 
should  laugh."     Yet   in   her   interrogatories,   this 

TABLE  XLV. 

Perceptions  of  Color  Among  Infants  (4  to  7  Years), 
School  B. 

Number  of  correct  answers  among 

'O  'O  13  fQ 

m^m  02*302         xti^m         m^m 

I'W)^      &*SJ)S     g^'S^Ss     &'siS 

i5-o^        Xi-dgi       xs'd^       ^-^^ 

r-(03'^  r-ieSlO  tHCJ«i  T-(R5t>- 

Interrogatory.  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd 

What  color  was  (or  were)— 
The  lady's  blouse  (or  the  top  part  of  her 

frock)?  21464566 

The  lady's  skirt   (or  the  bottom  part  of 

her  frock)  ? 13757475 

The  lady's  apron  or  pinafore? 21554565 

The  lady's  boots  or  shoes? 459     10       5732 

The  lady's  hair? 4545799     10 

The  boy's  coat  or  jacket? 11113211 

The  boy's  knickers  or  trousers? 01212222 

The  boy's  boots  or  shoes? 569     10       5677 

The  boy's  stockings? 00111034 

The  boy's  hair? 5       7       5       7     10       9     10       8 

The  table? 4       5       6       6       8       8     10     10 

The  knife? 2       4       1       4     10     10       8     10 

The  flowers? 7       8       8       9       8       9     10     10 

The  leaves? 9       9       9       9     10     10     10     10 

ITie   flower-pot? 7       7       7       7       9     10     10       8 

The  box? 14578899 

The  jug  or  vase? 23422242 

The  walls  of  the  room? 0       0       3       4       6       4       5       4 

Totals 56     70     90     99    109    110    120    113 

Percentage  correct 31     39     50     55     61     61     67     63 

Average  percentage 35  53  61  65 


EVOLUTION  OF  PERCEPTUAL  JUDGMENTS 


209 


child  had  dressed  the  boy  gravely  in  grays  and  blues. 
If  children  are  fond  of  colored  pictures,  as  doubtless 
they  are,  the  coloring  must  be  rather  a  source  of 
emotional  than  of  intellectual  satisfaction.  The 
elder  girls,  however,  as  will  be  seen  from  the  tables, 
show  much  more  capacity  and  have  given  a  high  per- 
centage of  accurate  answers. 

TABLE  XLVI. 

Perceptions  of  Color  Among  Girls  (8  to  13  Years), 
School  O. 


-Number  of  correct  answers  among- 


S  S  fc  >  ?  ? 

«M_.  <!-(  <w_  *w_.  n-i_  *^_ 

c^  CO  cd  CO  0*0  CO 

f-4  ^  (^  t-t  M  M 

BOcg  asjg  0553  '"oj  °5eS  ^  cS 

'^'5  '*^'2  'f^'^  '^^'5  '*^'2  '*^'5 

'Sbg  "Sbg  *Sbg  'Sbg  '5ig  *5i§ 

mS  ^^  Sm  ^m  Sw  ^m 

Interrogatory.          1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd 

What   color   was    (or 
were) — 
The  lady's  blouse  (or  the 

top  part  of  her  frock)?    16     18  18     19  31     33  38     36  19     18  16     16 
The  lady's  skirt  (or  the 

bottom    part    of    her 

frock)?   12      15  20     16  31      32  37      35  18     18  16      15 

The     lady's    apron     or 

pinafore?  7       7  11     11  18     17  26     29  17     14  15     16 

The     lady's     boots     or 

shoes?    29     22  24      22  37      33  34      31  7       5  13      12 

The  lady's  hair? 12     14  16     17  34     32  35     36  17     19  13     13 

The  boy's  coat  or  jacket?     3       4  6       8  10     10  24     18  8       6  6       7 
The    boy's    knickers    or 

trousers?  4       4  2       3  18     15  16     16  9       6  3       2 

The  boy's  boots  or  shoes?    27     24  23     11  38     30  31     34  15     13  15     15 

The  boy's  stockings?....      6243  12     11  99  11       966 

The  boy's  hair? 18     21  14     17  33     35  33     36  15     17  14     14 

The  table? 30     28  24     24  47     50  36     41  20     18  14     16 

The  knife? 15     17  14     18  30     26  24     22  8     12  10       8 

The  flowers? 24      26  27      23  43      42  39      40  18      19  15      16 

The  leaves? 34     33  26      27  48      45  34      39  20     20  15     16 

The  flower-pot? 29      29  28      29  42      41  35      37  19      18  11      13 

The  box? 23      26  20     23  38      34  31      34  15      17  14      13 

The  jug  or  vase? 54789     11  14     13  7723 

The  walls  of  the  room?     6       4  3       7  8     10  20     20  7       8  12     11 

Totals 300    298  287    286  527    507  516    526  250    244  210    212 

Percentage  correct 49     49  53     53  57     55  70     71  69     68  73     74 

Average  percentage 49  53  56  71  69  73 


210  CHILDREN'S   PERCEPTIONS 

TABLE  XLVII. 

Pebceptions  of  Color  Among  Boys  (8  to  13  YEx\bs), 
School  C. 


-Number  of  correct  answers  among- 


S  G  ^  >  >  k 

CO  o'O  cd  o'O  eg  eg 

MOJ  CQcS  JOCS  WOJ  OQoJ  W«J 

^jfO  >»ro  l>s'a  ►*4'0  ^"O  ^'O 

ga  Ofl  gfl  gp  gfl  ®fl 

Sm  ^M  ^M  g§M  S§  Sw 

Interrogatory.  1st  2nd   1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd  1st  2nd 

What    color   was    (or 
were)  — 
The  lady's  blouse  (or  the 

top  part  of  her  frock)?  23  17  11  11     11     11     18  18  6       7       4       5 
The  lady's  skirt  (or  the 

bottom    part    of    her 

frock)?   13  18  9  15       9      13      22  21  12       9       5       4 

The    lady's    apron     or 

pinafore?  3588979  11  4320 

The     lady's     boots     or 

shoes?    46  35  37  33      28      28      23  26  14     11       7       6 

The  lady's  hair? 22  23  19  20     34     23      22  26  17      23       5       7 

The  boy's  coat  or  jacket?  16  17  8965353321 
The    boy's    knickers    or 

trousers?  642678455411 

The  boy's  boots  or  shoes?  38  42  31  38     33     34     24  24  14     20       8       8 

The  boy's  stockings?....  6  11  3413556753 

The  boy's  hair? 30  29  18  16     26     26     27  24  21     18       5       6 

The  table? 42  37  33  34      36     38      30  30  22     21       7      10 

The  knife? 32  24  30  35     22     27      19  19  16     17       5       5 

The  flowers? 34  36  34  33      30     32     28  30  23      23       8       9 

The  leaves? 37  43  39  39      38      38     30  29  25      25     10     10 

The  flower-pot? 40  44  33  36      37      35      29  30  24     26       9     10 

The  box? 30  33  32  33      25      33     29  30  24     23       9       9 

The  jug  or  vase? 55  10  864778612 

The  walls  of  the  room?  96  10  7778  10  9     10      22 

Totals 432    429    367    385    365    372    337    350    253    256      95      98 

Percentage  correct 48     48     49     51     49     50     57     59     54     55     53     54 

Average  percentage 48  50  50  58  54  54 

Comments  on  Tables  XLIV,  XLV,  XLVI  and 
XLVII. 

Though  the  colors  of  the  things  in  the  picture  do 
not  appear  to  have  been  very  accurately  perceived, 
except  among  the  highest  classes  in  the  girls'  school, 
yet  there  seems  no  falling  off  in  accuracy  from  the 
first  week  to  the  second.    The  questions  of  the  first 


EVOLUTION  OF  PERCEPTUAL  JUDGMENTS  211 

interrogatory  have  no  suggestive  influence  on  the 
colors,  so  that  we  cannot  attribute  the  second  week's 
superiority  to  suggestion.  The  children  did  not 
know  they  were  ever  to  be  asked  about  the  picture 
again,  so  that  we  can  only  attribute  the  accuracy 
of  their  memory,  indeed  their  gain  in  memory,  if 
we  may  so  speak,  to  their  own  activity  in  percep- 
tion, and  to  the  immediate  effort  to  remember  to 
which  the  questions  of  the  first  week  acted  as  a  stim- 
ulation. It  would  appear  likely,  with  children  as 
with  adults,  that  the  influence  of  a  question  by  no 
means  ceases  when  an  attempt  has  been  made  to  an- 
swer it. 

The  infants  of  the  younger  ages,  3  and  4  years, 
show  very  little  power  of  perceiving  and  remember- 
ing colors;  but  of  course  the  naming  of  the  colors, 
apart  from  their  perception,  forms  a  real  difficulty 
to  many  of  these  children.  The  6-year-old  and  7- 
year-old  children  do  rather  well.  There  is  a  drop 
shown  by  the  8-year-old  children  of  the  senior  schools 
and  the  boys  subsequently  remain  at  a  low  level 
throughout  the  grades.  The  girls,  however,  show 
considerable  improvement  and,  in  the  higher  classes, 
answer  much  more  accurately.  There  appears  to 
be  a  steady  sex  difference  in  favor  of  the  girls.  A 
comparison  between  the  two  infant  schools  (School 
A  and  School  B)  shows  a  steady  superiority,  age 
for  age,  in  favor  of  the  school  whose  children  are 
better-born  and  more  favorably  situated  as  to  home 
environment. 


212  children's  perceptions 

VIII.    Validity  of  This  Method  of  Tracing  thb 
Child's  Perceptual  Evolution. 

I  have  postponed  any  discussion  as  to  the  validity 
of  this  Aussage  method  until  the  reader  has  had  an 
opportunity  of  studying  the  results.  But  it  now 
seems  worth  while  to  give  some  consideration  to  it. 
Obviously,  we  have  by  this  method  a  way  of  present- 
ing things  to  children  as  they  appear  in  a  concrete 
situation,  and  we  trace  the  development  of  percep- 
tion under  those  conditions  which  are,  in  fact,  the 
conditions  to  be  found  in  actual  life.  For  many  psy- 
chological purposes,  we  must  undoubtedly  use  the 
highly  artificial  arrangements  of  the  laboratory:  I 
am  by  no  means  unmindful  of  the  need  for  such 
work.  But  there  is  always  a  risk  in  artificializing  a 
process,  that  the  conclusions  from  the  results  will 
not  really  apply  to  the  actual  work  of  life  and  school, 
though  they  may  appear  to  do  so  at  first  sight.  The 
method  adopted  in  this  research  escapes  this  diffi- 
culty. There  is,  however,  a  limitation  to  our  con- 
clusions, regarded  psychologically.  For  example, 
we  may  not  say  that,  because  boys  do  not  notice 
colors  accurately,  and  show  little  or  no  improvement 
in  this  work  throughout  their  school  life,  color  dis- 
crimination does  not  improve  in  boys  from  the  ages 
of  8  to  14  years.  It  may  not,  but  other  methods 
would  have  to  be  employed  to  demonstrate  such  a 
contention.  We  are  entitled  only  to  conclude  that, 
when  capacity  and  interest  are  considered  jointly 
and  working  together,  no  such  improvement  takes 
place.  And  the  conclusions  are  subject  to  a  further 
condition.  They  are  true  under  certain  pedagogical 
conditions  prevalent  in  elementary  schools  in  Eng- 


EVOLUTION  OF  PERCEPTUAL  JUDGMENTS  213 

land  at  the  date  of  the  experiment.  Timeless  or 
eternal  truth  may  be  very  true;  it  is  usually  also 
very  useless ;  we  must,  and  I  think  ought  to  be  satis- 
fied to  get  truth  applicable  to  the  conditions  of  prac- 
tice; and  the  contention  is  that  many  such  truths 
have  been  obtained. 

IX.    Pedagogical  Value  of  the  Method. 

We  are  rapidly  moving  away  from  the  days  in 
which  it  was  supposed  that  the  psychologist,  being  a 
clever  fellow  who  knew  all  about  the  mind,  could  sit 
down  in  his  study  and  excogitate  general  directions 
for  the  use  of  schools  and  teachers.  The  psycholo- 
gist is  needed  as  much,  indeed,  more  than  ever  (he 
is,  in  fact,  being  asked  for  by  the  teachers  them- 
selves, even  in  England) ;  but  his  work  will  no  longer 
mainly  consist  in  writing  Psychology  for  Teachers. 
Every  now  and  then,  some  capable  person  who 
knows  both  psychology  and  education  must  make  a 
summary  of  the  ascertained  knowledge  which  inter- 
relates the  two  fields  of  inquiry.  But  this  will  be, 
so  to  speak,  a  bye-product.  The  actual  work  of 
educational  psychology  will  be  done  experimentally 
in  the  schools  (with  reference  to  the  laboratory  for 
disputed  theoretical  points),  and  will  be  done  with 
the  ready  aid  and  cordial  support  of  the  teachers. 
But  the  work  must  he  so  arranged  that  its  methods 
and  conclusions  are  clear  to  the  teachers  who  help. 
If  this  is  done,  we  shall  hear  no  more  of  the  teacher's 
antagonism  to  psychology.  He  will,  and  she  will  (I 
am  writing  in  England  and  cannot  give  place  aux 
dames)  become  its  most  faithful  adherent  and  advo- 


214  CHILDKEN^S   PEKOEPTIONS 

cate.  Some  rather  important  eorroUaries  will  fol- 
low. Books  dealing  with  children's  ways  and  with 
method  in  schools  will  (some  day)  cease  asserting 
as  mere  guesswork  that  this  or  that  mental  fmiction 
is  within  the  capacity  of  children  or  lies  within  the 
track  of  their  interests,  and  will  base  their  state- 
ments upon  ascertained  fact.  Unhappily,  these  facts 
cost  time,  knowledge,  and  industry  to  collect,  and  the 
number  of  persons  ready  to  spend  private  means  in 
making  this  knowledge  will  always  be  small  and  can- 
not safely  be  relied  on.  Meanwhile,  guess-work  will 
go  on  whenever  there  is  no  real  knowledge  available. 
Unfortunately,  it  will  go  on  for  some  time  after 
there  is. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

WAS  IT  THE  SAME  PICTURE  WHICH  WAS  SHOWN 
THE  SECOND  TIME? 

We  have  seen  how  almost  invariably  the  work  of 
the  second  week  has  proved  itself  to  be  superior  to 
that  of  the  week  before,  even  though  the  picture  has 
been  quite  inaccessible  in  the  meantime.*  Moreover, 
the  children  did  not  know  that  they  were  ever  to 
write  about  it  or  be  questioned  about  it  again.  Yet, 
with  no  chance  of  renewing  their  original  percep- 
tions, and  with  no  extraneous  motive  for  remem- 
brance, they  were  quite  clearly  more  accurate  the 
second  week  than  the  first.  This  increase  of  accu- 
racy in  memory  after  a  lapse  of  time  is  often,  and 
probably  rightly,  explained  by  recovery  from  fatigue. 
The  original  perception  is  often  too  protracted ;  and 
immediately-tested  memories  show  poor  results.  A 
few  days  later,  when  the  fatigue  due  to  the  original 
effort  to  learn  has  passed  away,  the  memory  of  what 
has  been  learnt  is  clearer,  easier  and  more  accurate. 
Have  we  similar  phenomenon  in  this  Aussage  work, 
and  is  it  due  to  the  same  cause  ?    A  similar  phenome- 

♦This  picture,  Das  FrUhstuck  Bild,  had  not  previously  been  used  in 
England ;  and,  with  the  exception  of,  perhaps,  a  few  copies  of  Stem's 
*Erinneyung'  and  of  an  issue  of  the  Zeitschrift  fur  Experimentelle 
Pddagogik  containing  the  picture,  to  be  found  in  the  university  cen- 
tres, there  were  no  copies  of  it  in  the  country. 

215 


216  CHILDBEN^S   PEKCEPTIONS 

non  we  certainly  appear  to  have ;  but  it  seems  hard 
to  attribute  it  to  the  same  cause ;  unless  we  are  pre- 
pared to  admit  that  the  one  minute's  observation  of 
the  picture  on  which  both  reports  and  interrogatories 
rest — an  observation,  moreover,  unguided  and  un- 
stimulated by  any  expectation  of  examination  after  a 
long  interval — ^was,  in  itself,  productive  of  fatigue. 
It  has  been  suggested  that  both  the  free  reporting  and 
the  answering  of  questions  have  had  a  fixing  and  clari- 
fying influence.  It  is  certain  that  the  child  knows  more 
about  the  picture  afterwards  and  knows  it  better 
than  he  did  at  first.  So  that  this  suggestion  seems, 
indeed,  to  be  a  merely  conservative  conclusion  from 
the  facts;  unless  there  is  some  other  general  factor 
which  may  account  for  the  improvement.  It  has 
sometimes  been  asserted  by  some  of  those  to  whom 
I  have  lectured  on  the  subject  that  the  difference  be- 
tween the  work  of  the  first  week  and  that  of  the  sec- 
ond week  is  not  due  to  any  psychological  factor  at 
all,  but  simply  to  the  likelihood  that,  during  the  in- 
terval between  the  reports  and  interrogatories  of  the 
first  week  and  those  of  the  second  week,  the  children, 
or  some  of  them,  have  communicated  with  each  other. 
I  am  quite  willing  to  allow  the  good  pedagogical  con- 
dition of  most  of  the  schools  in  which  the  experiment 
was  conducted;  I  am  willing  to  admit  the  general 
interest  of  the  children  in  their  work ;  but  I  can  only 
say  that,  if  the  boys  and  girls  discussed  their  school- 
work  in  play-time  and  out  of  school-hours,  these 
schools  were  the  fortunate  possessors  of  a  type  of 
school-child  not  very  common  in  London.  I  am  pre- 
pared to  admit  that  the  novelty  of  the  exercise  may 
have  somewhat  removed  the  Aussage  work  from  the 


WAS  SAME  PICTURE  SHOWN  SECOND  TIME?         217 

daily  round  and  the  common  task;  and  therefore  I 
should  not  like  to  assert  that  no  child  mentioned  this 
work  to  any  other  child  during  the  week's  interval 
between  the  tests.  Let  us  suppose,  therefore,  that  it 
is,  in  certain  circumstances,  a  possibility;  and  then  let 
us  ask,  in  those  circumstances,  had  such  communica- 
tion occurred,  what  effect  would  it  have  had  on  the 
results  ?  For  first  of  all,  we  know  that  at  one  point 
in  the  procedure,  namely,  after  the  second  observa- 
tion, some  of  the  older  boys  and  girls  did  discuss  the 
picture  among  themselves  when  the  question  was 
raised  as  to  the  identity  of  the  second  picture  with 
the  first.  In  this  doubtful  issue  there  was,  of  course, 
something  to  argue  about,  something  on  which  they 
differed  among  themselves,  some  thesis  on  which 
they  could  hang  their  assertions  and  denials.  More- 
over it  took  place  at  the  close  of  the  procedure.  Was 
there  communication  during  the  interval  between  the 
reports  ?  First,  let  us  deal  with  facts  of  observation 
and  then  with  the  possibilities  or  likelihood  of  the 
alleged  communication  between  the  children  working 
the  experiment.  In  the  first  place,  no  child  was  ob- 
served during  the  interval  in  communication  with 
another  on  the  subject.  It  would  seem  certain,  there- 
fore, that  there  could  scarcely  have  been  any  general 
communication.  But  there  might  have  been  some 
communication  here  and  there.  Well,  as  far  as  the 
infant  schools.  Schools  A  and  B,  were  concerned  and 
as  far  as  the  senior  schools.  Schools  D,  E,  F,  and  C,'* 
where  the  children  were  individually  examined  in 
sample  and  orally,  even  this  partial  communication 
was  very  unlikely.  For  the  exercises,  especially  in 
the  infant  schools,  were  spread  over  several  months, 

*See  page  222  et  seq. 


218  CHILDKEN^S   PEKCEPTIONS 

and  a  child  had  often  completed  all  his  work  weeks 
before  another  child,  also  of  the  same  class,  was  called 
upon  to  do  it,  and  very  few  children  of  the  same  class 
did  it  at  all.  In  the  case  of  School  C,  boys  and  girls, 
where  the  children  of  the  same  class  all  answered  in 
writing,  all  at  one  time,  we  cannot  say  that  no  com- 
munication occurred  between  any  of  the  pupils.  We 
have  to  remember  that  they  did  not  know  that  they 
were  ever  again  to  be  called  on  to  describe  the  pic- 
ture. But  let  us  suppose  that  some  of  them  had  com- 
municated, no  one  who  knows  school-children  will 
accept  for  a  moment  the  hypothesis  that  all  of  them 
had  done  so.  Let  us  suppose,  I  say,  that  some  of 
them  had,  and  let  us  suppose,  and  this  is  a  big  suppo- 
sition, that  the  communication  was  always  advan- 
tageous to  all  parties  concerned.  Is  this  the  common 
factor  we  are  seeking  which  produces  the  general  im- 
provement from  one  week  to  the  next?  The  figures 
themselves  enable  us  to  answer  in  the  negative.  For 
if  some  of  the  children  had  profited  by  some  extrane- 
ous factor  unknown  among  the  others,  these  children 
would  have  *  jumped  up'  in  the  lists  over  the  others 
the  second  week,  and  the  high  positive  correlations 
actually  found  between  the  results  of  the  first  week 
and  those  of  the  second  week  would  have  been  much 
reduced.  One  further  point;  all  the  children  at 
School  C,  both  boys  and  girls,  were  thoroughly  ac- 
customed to  writing  both  in  cursive  English  composi- 
tion and  in  answering  questions,  so  that  practice  in 
these  factors  may  be  practically  ruled  out.* 

I  reject,  therefore,  the  supposition  that  the  im- 
provement is  due  to  communication  between  the  chil- 
dren and  again  suggest  that  it  is  due  to  the  effort  of 

*The  relevant  figures  are  given  in  a  statistical  summary  on  p.  241. 


WAS  SAME  PICTURE  SHOWN  SECOND  TIME?  219 

reporting  and  the  effort  of  answering  and  trying  to 
answer  the  questions  of  the  first  interrogatory. 

Is  there,  then,  nothing  to  be  said  for  those  who  tell 
ns  that  to  examine  on  imperfectly  known  material 
may  be  an  incitement  to  error ;  for  error,  as  well  as 
truth,  may  be  ^ fixed'  thereby.  Quantitatively,  their 
objection  is  quite  overborne.  Practically,  we  may 
be  quite  sure  that  we  are  doing  well  to  insist  on  pro- 
duction and  reproduction,  even  of  material  imper- 
fectly known ;  but  there  is  a  tendency  to  fix  the  er- 
roneous as  well  as  the  true ;  though,  fortunately  for 
us,  it  is,  on  the  whole,  a  weaker  tendency. 

Once  or  twice  in  the  course  of  the  individual  self- 
corrections  it  had  become  apparent  that  the  child 
was  doubtful  whether  he  was  really  looking  at  the 
same  picture  as  before  or  at  a  different  one ;  and  in 
the  Girls'  department  of  School  C,  after  the  self- 
corrections  were  over,  the  girls  were  asked,  class 
by  class,  whether  they  thought  the  ""picture  shown 
the  second  time  was  the  same  as  that  which  they  had 
seen  the  week  before.  There  were  some  in  every 
class  who  did  not;  but  the  numbers  were  very  few 
until  the  upper  classes  were  reached.  In  Standards 
VI  and  VII  (girls  of  12  and  13  years  of  age)  there 
was  a  decided  majority  in  favor  of  the  opinion  that 
the  picture  was  not  the  same.  They  had,  of  course, 
corrected  their  previous  work  on  the  basis  of  the 
assumption  that  the  picture  was  the  same,  for  that 
was  what  they  had  been  required  to  do.  Notwith- 
standing this,  23  out  of  34  girls  said  that  they 
thought  it  was  not  the  same  picture.  These  girls 
had  been  encouraged  to  bring  their  intellectual  diffi- 
culties to  their  Head  Mistress,  and  several  of  them 


220  CHILDREN'S   PERCEPTIONS 

came  afterwards,  one  by  one,  and  spoke  to  her  about 
it.  One  girl  said  she  was  quite  certain  that  in  the 
first  picture  the  boy  was  sitting  round  the  corner  of 
the  table,  with  both  elbows  resting  on  it.  Another 
said  it  was  a  different  picture  because  there  was  a 
brown  flower-pot  in  the  first  and  a  red  one  in  the 
second.  A  third  was  quite  sure  that  the  lady's  dress 
was  yellow  before  and  the  boy's  coat,  too.  Another 
said  ^'It  looks  like  the  same  things,  but  they  are  not 
so  spread  out  this  time."  A  fifth  girl  said  ^^The 
woman  was  in  front  before ;  the  leaves  were  a  darker 
green  and  the  dabs  of  black  were  on  the  flowers  not 
on  the  leaves."  Another  thought  that  there  were 
two  pictures,  copies  of  the  same  things,  slightly 
differently  arranged.  Yet  another  said  that  the 
back  of  the  picture  had  been  altered;  there  was  no 
wall  before  on  the  right-hand  side.  On  the  basis  of 
these  notes  should  we  be  wrong  in  attributing  the 
errors  of  identification  almost  wholly  to  mistakes  in 
positional  references  and  in  color?  If  this  be  the 
case,  the  error  appears  to  arise  just  in  those  cases 
where  the  questioning  is  least  effectual  in  interrelat- 
ing the  answers.  There  is  a  fixation  of  error,  but  it 
appears  to  be  largely  a  fixation  of  an  emotional 
kind  produced  by  mere  repetition. 

So  much  for  the  girls,  but  what  of  the  boys?  Boys 
are  more  obstinate  than  girls — though  the  relation 
of  the  sexes  in  this  respect  is  asserted  to  be  different 
later  in  life !  What  did  the  boys  say?  It  was  quite 
clear  that  the  upper  classes  of  the  boys'  school  did 
not  believe  it  was  the  same  picture.  By  an  over- 
whelming majority  the  ^ Noes'  had  it.  The  Head 
Master  was  a  man  whom  the  boys  respected — a  re- 


WAS  SAME  PICTURE  SHOWN  SECOND  TIME?         221 

spect  with  its  due  ingredient  of  fear.  He  told  them 
authoritatively  that  it  was  the  same  picture,  and 
then  said  ^^Now  boys,  do  you  believe  it?"  ^*No, 
Sir,"  they  shouted,  much  to  his  disgust,  though  he 
saw  subsequently  that  to  change  their  conviction 
merely  on  his  assertion  would  not  have  been  the 
most  complimentary  consequence  of  his  teaching. 
Of  individual  records  of  boy's  opinions  I  have  none, 
but  some  of  the  boys  were  heard  subsequently  dis- 
cussing the  question,  and  were  unostentatiously  ob- 
served. Truth,  alas!  represented  by  only  one  boy 
(not  of  a  forceful  nature)  went  down  ingloriously. 
Four  or  five  of  the  boys  had  points  of  dissimilarity 
to  insist  upon  and  with  inter jectional  addresses  of 
^FooP  and  ^ Silly  Ass,'  they  held  triumphant  debate 
with  the  sole  advocate  of  identity,  and  silenced  him. 
I  do  not  suppose  he  was  convinced,  except  perhaps 
of  the  rashness  of  trying  to  persuade  a  crowd  of  its 
own  folly.  Boys  might  be  convinced  if  they  were 
allowed  to  keep  the  picture  themselves  in  sealed 
envelopes.  Breaking  the  seals  at  a  given  time,  they 
could  make  a  *  self-correction'  from  which  all  possi- 
bility of  doubt  would  be  removed.  I  suggest  this  as 
a  useful  variant  in  the  method  by  which  the  above 
exercises  were  given. 


CHAPTEEVIII. 

HOW  FAR  IS  THE  RELATIVE  INFERIORITY  OF  THE 

OLDER  CHILDREN  DUE  TO  DIFFERENCES 

IN  THE  METHOD  OF  REPORTING? 

FIFTH^    SIXTH^    SEVENTH    AND   EIGHTH    SEKIES    OF 
EXPEEIMENTS. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  infant-school  chil- 
dren (Schools  A  and  B),  from  3  to  7  years  of  age, 
had  given  their  reports,  interrogatories  and  self- 
corrections  orally,  whilst  the  boys  and  girls  of  School 
C,  children  from  8  to  13  years  of  age,  had  given 
theirs  in  writing. 

It  would  be  commonly  supposed,  especially  with 
the  younger  children,  that  the  actual  difficulty  of 
penmanship  would  have  a  serious  effect  upon  the 
length  and  accuracy  of  their  reports,  especially  upon 
their  length;  and  that  even  their  answers  to  the 
questions  of  the  interrogatories  would  be  less  accu- 
rate, if  they  were  compelled  to  write  their  answers, 
than  if  they  were  allowed  to  express  themselves  by 
word  of  mouth.  It  might,  therefore,  fairly  be  held 
that,  whereas  the  methods  employed  in  this  research 
enable  us  to  come  to  correct  conclusions  concerning 
the  relative  powers  of  boys  and  girls  from  8  up  to 
14  years  of  age,  no  conclusions  can  properly  be  ar- 

222 


DIFFERENCES   IN    METHOD   OF   REPORTING  223 

rived  at  about  the  comparative  capacities  of  the  boys 
and  girls  and  younger  children,  namely,  those  from 
3  up  to  8  years  of  age. 

As  one  important  generalization  from  this  re- 
search declares  the  relative  inferiority  of  boys  and 
girls  in  the  lower  classes  of  senior  departments  as 
compared  with  older  infants — children  of  6  and  7 
years  of  age — ,  it  seems  necessary  to  try  some  fair 
samples  of  boys  and  girls  in  typical  schools  hy  ex- 
actly the  same  procedure  as  that  which  was  adopted 
in  the  infants'  schools.  The  generalization  may 
otherwise  be  disputed  on  the  score  of  difference  in 
method.  This  new  step  was  not  easy  to  take,  for  the 
work,  done  orally,  takes  an  enormous  amount  of 
time.  Each  child  works  for  20  minutes  or  more  on 
each  occasion,  indeed,  for  considerably  longer  on  the 
second  occasion,  because  the  *  Self -Correction'  is 
taken  then.  The  writing  of  the  reports  and  answers 
at  the  speed  required  is  fatiguing  to  the  experi- 
menter, and  not  less  than  half-an-hour  is  occupied 
by  the  marking  of  each  of  the  papers,  the  *  Self-Cor- 
rections'  especially  requiring  great  care,  and  con- 
stant references  back  to  the  ^Eeports'  and  ^Interrog- 
atories.' And  only  trained  observers  or  examiners 
can  hope  to  get  the  reports  and  answers  free  from 
the  personal  influence  of  the  experimenter.  In  each 
school  where  the  work  was  done  about  one-third  of 
the  reports,  answers,  etc.,  were  received  by  me  per- 
sonally, the  others  were  given  to  a  member  of  the 
staff,  in  all  cases  but  one,  to  the  Head  Teacher.  In 
every  instance  the  teacher  assisting  in  the  experi- 
ment had  had  some  years  of  experience  of  practical 
work  in  experimental  pedagogy. 


224  CHILDBEN^S   PERCEPTIONS 

As  it  was  the  inferiority  of  the  boys  rather  than 
of  the  girls  that  was  so  marked,  I  determined  that 
the  great  bulk  of  this  oral  work  should  be  done  in 
boys'  schools,  and  that  I  would  take  one  girls'  school 
only,  the  school  in  which  the  work  had  been  done 
originally,  for  it  would,  I  knew,  be  possible  to  get  a 
fair  sample  of  8-year-old  children  who  had  not  been 
in  the  school  when  the  experiment  had  been  pre- 
viously carried  out.  The  boys'  schools  I  selected 
were  quite  new  to  the  work  and  situated  very  va- 
riously. I  obtained  fair  samples  of  8-and  12-year- 
old  children  from  (a)  an  excellently  placed  subur- 
ban school,  attended  by  well-grown  intelligent  chil- 
dren, (fe)  a  ^slum'  school,  not  of  the  worst  type,  in 
the  south-east  of  London,  and  a  fair  sample  of  8-and 
9-year-old  children  from  (c)  a  'slum'  school,  also 
not  of  the  worst  type,  but  attended  solely  by  the 
children  of  Jewish  aliens.  The  well-placed  suburban 
school  was  regarded  as  being  in  a  high  state  of  peda- 
gogical efficiency,  but  both  the  'slum'  schools  had 
been  under  a  cloud  from  which,  however,  they  were 
now  decidedly  emerging,  one  rapidly,  the  other  more 
slowly.  The  girls'  school — School  C — was  rather 
well  placed  and  was  pedagogically  efficient ;  but  I  am 
afraid  my  figures  for  the  oral  work  of  the  8-year-old 
children  of  this  school  are  of  little  value,  except  ped- 
agogically, for  in  the  period  intervening  between  the 
first  set  of  experiments — the  written  ones — and 
those  now  to  be  recounted — the  oral  ones — the  in- 
fants' department  of  School  C  had  done  rather  more 
work  with  pictures  than  before,  so  that  in  the  oral 
work  of  the  girls  we  may  have  a  pedagogical  factor 
of  some  magnitude.    In  one  other  case,  with  two  of 


DIFFERENCES   IN    METHOD   OP   REPORTING  225 

the  boys  in  one  school,  I  discovered  a  direct  and  posi- 
tive pedagogical  influence;  in  another  case  I  found 
an  indirect  and  negative  one,  which  I  will  point  out  in 
their  respective  places.  The  *fair  samples'  were 
selected  in  all  cases  in  the  way  described  in  the  sec- 
tion on  infant-school  work. 

I.    The  Work  of  School  D. 

This  was  a  ^slum'  school  attended  by  English  chil- 
dren in  the  south-east  of  London.  I  do  npt  propose 
to  give  at  present  any  individual  specimens  of  their 
work,  though  I  may  publish  some  of  the  dossiers 
later.  I  shall  give  merely  the  average  marks  of  the 
age-groups,  sectionized  in  standards  or  classes. 
Standard  I  is  the  lowest  class  of  the  senior  school 
and  might  be  described  as  first  school  year. 

TABLE  XLVIIL 

Summarized  Results  from  the  Work  of  Eight- Year-Old  Chil- 
dren, School  D. 

'■  .  J?  i       . 

standard.         ^  Average  .  S?  .  5?  a 

°  22.        Is         8|        8S         «s| 

o  .Sop  .Sfl  oj'^  <D  a  V  o 

A         Yrs.  Mths.      fcP5  fc.5  j»M         OiS  wo 

I  3  8       4.3  31.0  29.0  31.3  28.7  9.3 

II  7  8       6.9  25.4  27.7  36.2  26.8  8.5 

Both   10  8       6.9  27.1  28.0  34.8  27.4  8.8 

M.  V 4.5  3.2  6.4  3.5  2.2 

Comments  on  Tables  XLVIII  and  XLIX. 

Let  us  first  compare  this  work  with  that  of  the 
8-year-old  children  and  12-year-old  children  of 
School  C*    If  the  samples  are  fair  ones  of  the  chil- 

♦See  pages  141,  163. 


226  CHILDREN'S   PERCEPTIONS 

TABLE  XLIX. 

Summarized  Results  from  the  Work  of  Twelve- Yeae-Old  Chil- 
dren, School  D. 

t  I  i       ° 

Standard.         S        Average  to  .  5P  s 

^  Age.  j^  M  -^u  a^  g 

"^  m2  too  o2  oS  li^t: 

o  .rnO  ^a  a»G>  a>ca  c)0 

:g      Yrs.  Mths.         feP4  feS  j^«  wS  MO 

II 1  12  11.0  27.0  26.0  45.0  23.0  11.0 

III    1  12  7.0  20.0  26.0  24.0  25.0  11.0 

IV  3  12  5.3  20.7  28.0  26.0  28.3  5.3 

V   1  12  2.0  44.0  35.0  50.0  34.0  9.0 

VI  2  12  8.0  32.5  32.0  35.0  29.5  10.5 

VII  2  12  7.5  51.5  38.0  70.5  39.0  6.0 

All  Standards.    10          12       6.7  32.1  31.1  40.8  30.4  8.0 

M.  V 10.9  4.3  14.6  4.8  2.4 

dren  of  School  D,  we  are  undoubtedly  entitled  to 
conclude  that  the  children  of  this  school,  unless  the 
difference  in  method  of  reporting,  etc.,  is  a  consid- 
erable factor,  are  more  proficient  in  the  functions 
measured  than  those  of  School  C.  Most  teachers 
would,  I  am  sure,  be  inclined  to  believe  that  the  chil- 
dren of  School  D  are  less  proficient  than  those  of 
School  C,  but  that  the  former  have  been  favored  by 
the  ^oraP  as  opposed  to  the  ^graphic'  method. 

Cojnparing  the  12-year-old  children  of  School  D 
and  School  C,  we  find  the  figures  running  extremely 
closely  together.  Unhappily,  however,  the  figures 
for  the  two  Standard  VII  boys  of  School  D  are 
largely  pedagogical  results,  for  the  teacher  of  this 
class  had  long  been  in  the  habit  of  teaching  much 
of  his  history  and  geography  by  means  of  carefully 
elicited  descriptions  of  pictures.  Making  allowance 
for  this  factor,  we  can  have  little  doubt  that  the  12- 
year-old  children  of  School  D,  though  favored  (it 
will  be  thought)  by  an  oral  method,  are  naturally 


DIFFERENCES   IN    METHOD   OF   REPORTING  227 

inferior  to  those  of  School  C  in  the  functions  meas- 
ured in  these  experiments.  Both  of  School  D  as  well 
as  of  School  C  the  boys  are  inferior  to  the  older  in- 
fants of  Schools  A  and  B.  But  School  D  is  a  'slum' 
school  and  though,  like  the  infants,  the  boys  did  the 
work  orally,  the  'slum'  factor  needs  eliminating.  It 
ought  to  be  remembered  that  of  the  two  infants' 
schools.  School  A  was  similarly  situated  socially, 
though  in  quite  a  different  part  of  London,  and 
School  D  is,  as  I  have  said,  not  regarded,  at  present, 
as  at  the  height  of  pedagogical  proficiency.  So  let 
us  take  the  work  of  a  boys'  school  extremely  well 
placed  geographically  and  distinguished  pedagog- 
ically. 

One  point  of  extreme  importance  must  be  noted: 
the  children  of  School  D,  though  improving  from  one 
week  to  the  other  in  their  power  to  report,  fall  a 
little  in  their  interrogatories.  This  result  is  almost 
unique,  and  I  attribute  it  to  'poor  memory,'  whether 
congenital,  the  result  of  poor  home  environment,  or 
of  a  pedagogical  factor,  I  am  unable  to  say.  I  think 
all  these  factors  operate,  but  incline  to  attach  most 
weight  to  the  first  named.  The  teachers  of  schools 
in  poor  neighborhoods  say  that  their  children,  though 
receptive  to  easy  things,  soon  forget  even  them.  The 
experimental  work  which  I  have  done  from  time  to 
time  in  'slum'  schools  tends  in  some  measure  to  sup- 
port that  contention. 

II.    The  Work  of  School  E. 

School  E,  situated  in  a  good  suburban  neighbor- 
hood among  open  fields  and  well-built  houses,  pre- 
sents us  with  the  highest  type  of  elementary  school 


228 


CHILDREN  S   PERCEPTIONS 


child.  I  propose  to  give  the  figures  for  the  work  of 
'fair  samples'  of  8-  and  12-year-old  boys  who  at- 
tended this  school. 

TABLE  L. 

Summarized  Results  from  the  Work  of  Eight- Year-Old  Chil- 
dren, School  E. 


00 

o 

o 

o 

? 

? 

o 

X5 

bp 

bo 

Standard. 

«w 

Average 

■\^ 

a 

"gt 

"gs 

o 

O 

6 

Age. 
Yrs.  Mths. 

4J  O 

33 -s 

0)  fl 

o  o 

"^ 

El4« 

fa" 

OQQS 

Xtl^ 

wo 

II   

5 
4 

8 
8 

2.6 

4.8 

26.4 
23.0 

28.0 
26.8 

34.0 
25.8 

30.8 
28.5 

8.4 

Ill   

9.3 

IV  

1 

8 

9.0 

34.0 

38.0 

46.0 

33.0 

9.0 

All  Standards. 

10 

8 

4.1 

25.8 

28.5 

31.9 

30.1 

8.8 

M.  V 

5.2 

3.1 

5.5 

3.3 

1.4 

TABLE  LI. 

Summarized  Results  from  the  Work  of  Twelve- Year-Old  Chil- 
dren, School  E. 


% 

Standard.          ^         Average  +J 

o              Age.  -^  o 

o  Yrs.  Mths.  ^  g- 

V  5          12       2.8  80.0 

VI   2           12       0.0  34.5 

VII   3           12       7.0  28.7 

All  Standards.    10          12       3.5  30.5 

M.  V 5.0 


es 

ti 

o 

bO 

bo 

2 

-^t? 

•02 

r, 

ia 

i^ 

•^   fl 

Oif^ 

<x>  a 

0)0 

AHH 

OiCsJ 

Ul^ 

MO 

32.6 

36.0 

31.8 

9.2 

30.5 

38.5 

32.5 

8.5 

35.0 

32.0 

35.3 

7.0 

32.9 

35.3 

33.0 

8.4 

4.1 

4.8 

3.6 

2.6 

Comments  on  Table  L  and  Table  LI. 

The  work  of  the  8-year-old  children  in  School  E 
is  slightly  inferior  in  several  aspects  to  that  of  the 
8-year-old  children  of  School  D.  The  former  are  3 
months  yonnger,  which  may  account  for  the  inferior- 
ity. But  they  are  superior  in  one  important  respect ; 
their  second  interrogatory  is  better  than  their  first, 


DIFFERENCES   IN    METHOD   OF   REPORTING  229 

which  is  indeed  the  rule  and  not  the  exception.  But 
the  important  point  is  the  ^closeness'  of  the  figures 
for  the  children  of  this  age  in  the  two  widely  differ- 
ent schools.  We  are  compelled,  I  think,  to  enter- 
tain the  hypothesis  that  for  boys  there  may  be  no 
great  closeness  of  positive  relationship  between  gen- 
eral mental  ability  and  natural  proficiency  in  these 
exercises,  since  without  doubt  the  8-year-old  boys 
of  School  E  are  mentally  much  superior  to  those  of 
School  D.  And  the  12-year-old  pupils  of  the  two 
schools  show  similar  relationships  in  these  Aussage 
exercises.  The  ^slum'  school  boys  are  slightly  supe- 
rior in  oral  reporting;  but  their  interrogatories  are 
poorer  and  they  remember  less  from  one  week  to  the 
next.  The  relationships  between  the  work  of  School 
E  (working  orally)  and  that  of  School  C  (with  writ- 
ten exercises)  are  similar  on  the  whole  to  those  be- 
tween the  work  of  School  D  and  that  of  School  C, 
except  that  the  boys  of  School  E  appear  to  know 
more,  though  they  say  less  about  it  spontaneously. 
The  boys  of  School  E  are,  as  usual,  distinctly  below 
the  older  infants  in  proficiency  in  these  exercises, 
with  the  exception  of  the  capacity  for  self-correction. 

III.    The  Work  of  School  F. 

This  was  a  ^slum'  school  in  the  east  of  London, 
attended  solely  by  children  of  Jewish  aliens.  It 
was  possible  to  take  a  ^fair  sample'  of  8-year-old 
children  and  ^fair  samples'  of  9-year-old  and  10- 
year-old  children,  but  after  Standard  IV,  the  boys 
were  transferred  to  a  neighboring  school,  conse- 
quently no  ^fair  samples'  of  12-year-old  children 
could  be  obtained.     One-third  of  the  experiments 


230  CHILDREN'S   PERCEPTIONS 

were  made  by  me,  the  remainder  by  the  Head  Mas- 
ter, who  had  had  several  years'  experience  of  work 
in  experimental  pedagogy. 

TABLE  LII. 

SUMMABIZED    RESULTS    FROM    THE    WORK    OF    EIGHT-YeAB-OlD    BOYS, 

School  F. 


& 

t 

a 

§ 

Xi 

bp 

? 

Standard. 

«M 

Average 

ti 

o 

'Sti 

'a  2 

o 
6 

Age. 
Yrs.  Mths. 

.t3  o 

OS  a> 

SB 

^ 

U^fi 

fa5 

ojtf 

J»  " 

02O 

I 

3 

7 

8 
8 

0.7 
3.7 

24.7 
17.4 

32.3 
25.3 

38.0 
25.3 

34.0 
26.8 

7.0 

II   

8.6 

Ill 

4 

8 

4.8 

12.5 

23.5 

18.2 

23.5 

11.2 

All  Standards. 

14 

8 

3.9 

17.6 

26.3 

26.0 

27.4 

9.0 

M.  V 



5.7 

3.7 

7.6 

4.6 

2.6 

Comments  on  Table  LII. 

We  were  a  little  perplexed  at  some  characteristics 
which  became  obvious  quite  early  in  the  work  done 
in  this  school,  so  in  order  to  be  quite  sure  that  we 
were  getting  a  fair  sample,  we  increased  from  10  to 
14  the  number  of  boys  tested.  But  the  result  re- 
mained unaffected.  The  work  is  worse  than  that  of 
either  the  South  London  slum  school  or  the  well- 
placed  suburban  one.  And  the  children  *go  down' 
as  they  rise  in  school  standards  of  pedagogical  pro- 
ficiency. The  Standard  I  boys  are  best,  the  Standard 
II  boys  are  next,  and  the  Standard  III  boys  are 
worst,  though  they  rise  in  age,  standard  by  stand- 
ard, rather  than  fall.  A  similar  relationship  ap- 
peared between  the  Standard  I  and  Standard  II 
8-year-old  boys  of  School  D,  and  between  the  Stand- 
ard II  and  Standard  III  boys  of  School  E.  In  oral 
work,  therefore,  the  younger  boys  show  a  decline  in 


DIFFERENCES   IN    METHOD   OF   REPORTING  231 

proficiency  as  they  rise  in  the  school  standards — 
age,  of  course,  remaining  constant.  The  interesting 
feature  in  this  school  is  the  very  rapid  and  decided 
decline.  This  is  partly  accounted  for  by  a  pedagogi- 
cal factor.  Some  of  the  children  now  in  Standard 
III  had  been  taught  to  make  up  a  story  about  a  pic- 
ture, and  this  practice  tended  to  abstract  their  atten- 
tion from  the  picture  itself.  Quite  apart  from  this 
factor,  I  am  not  sure  that  a  racial  characteristic 
was  not  also  present,  which  tended  to  the  loss  of 
marks.  There  was  no  lack  of  fluency  in  English  and 
many  of  the  children  said  a  great  deal,  but  much  of 
what  they  said  did  not  result  from  accurate  obser- 
vations of  the  picture. 

Of  course,  we  have  always  to  remember  that  there 
is  much  written  work  for  boys  in  the  lower  stand- 
ards of  the  senior  schools,  and  that  they  have  now 
seriously  to  Hackle'  reading,  writing  and  arithmetic. 
Might  we  not  expect  just  such  a  standstill  of  de- 
velopment in  observation  of  this  kind  and  in  the  oral 
expression  of  it  as  we  actually  find?  Let  us  suppose 
the  fact  is  accepted.  What  shall  we  do  ?  That  will 
depend  upon  our  ideal  of  education.  If  we  believe 
that  reading,  writing  and  arithmetic,  as  ordinarily 
understood,  are  of  more  importance  than  an  observ- 
ant outlook  on  things  and  a  fluent  accurate  expres- 
sion, whether  oral  or  written,  of  what  is  seen,  we 
shall  continue  our  present  practices.  If  not  we  shall 
make  some  changes. 

Comments  on  Table  LIIL 

Once  again  we  increased  our  sample  so  as  to  make 
sure  it  was  adequate.  There  is  a  rise  all  round 
when  compared  with  the  work  of  the  8-year-old  boys 


232 


CHILDKEN  S   PEBCEPTIONS 


TABLE  LIII. 

SUMMABIZED    RESULTS    FBOM    THE    WORK    OF    NiNE-YEAR-OlD    BOYS, 

School  F. 


Standard.          ^         Average  *j 

o             Age.  t^  o 

6  Yrs.  Mths.  j^  ^ 

'A  fcW 

I  1            9       1  27.0 

II    3            9       3  22.3 

III    6             9        6  26.1 

IV  2            9       5  23.5 

All  Standards.    12           9       4.6  24.8 

M.   V 7.8 


>. 

>. 

u 

u 

o 

o 

Xfi 

p 

^ 

P* 

o 

bfi 

W) 

o 

'd-M 

-02 

% 

-M  ^ 

So 

o^ 

o 

f.^ 

sl 

8^ 

IS  «-• 

•S  fl 

a;  Of 

GJ  fl 

OJ  o 

fe^: 

WM 

02^ 

WU 

24.0 

31.0 

22.0 

7.0 

26.3 

42.3 

29.6 

10.0 

29.5 

32.8 

31.5 

11.5 

26.5 

33.0 

25.0 

15.5 

27.7 

35.1 

29.2 

11.4 

2.6 

9.1 

3.0 

2.6 

— a  very  considerable  one  so  far  as  the  reports  and 
self-corrections  are  concerned,  but  very  small  in- 
deed in  the  interrogatories.  The  same  features  of 
fluency  and  inaccuracy  are  present  as  in  the  work 
of  the  8-year-old  boys.  It  is  probably  worth  noting 
that  the  two  boys  most  advanced  pedagogically  for 
their  age — the  two  boys  in  Standard  IV — make  a 
very  poor  show  at  this  work ;  except  in  the  one  fea- 
ture of  self-correction. 

TABLE  LIV. 

Summarized  Results  from  the  Work  of  Ten-Year-Old  Boys, 

School  F. 


ii 

^ 

w 

o 

o 

n 

t>> 

•M 

-M 

p 

o 

5* 

o 

Standard. 

X3 

Average 

t 

'2  if 

"SS 

53 

1 

Age. 
Yrs.  Mths. 

4->  f-> 

S5 

si 

a;  O 

II   

2 
4 
6 

10 
10 
10 

8 
3 
3 

32.0 
23.0 
26.0 

33.5 
25.2 
30.0 

43.5 
29.2 
40.5 

36.5 
28.2 
31.6 

7.0 

Ill   

9.2 

IV  

7.8 

All  Standards. 

12 

10 

4 

26.0 

29.0 

37.2 

31.3 

8.2 

M.  V 

5.8 

3.5 

8.2 

3.9 

1.7 

DIFFERENCES   IN    METHOD   OF   REPORTING  233 

Comments  on  Table  LIV. 

Twelve  boys  were  selected  to  form  an  adequate 
sample  from  the  various  standards  in  which  the  10- 
year-old  boys  were  to  be  found.  There  is  a  slight 
advance  upon  the  work  of  the  9-year-old  boys  in  both 
the  reports  and  interrogatories ;  but  there  is  a  fall- 
ing off  in  self-correction.  The  same  features  of 
fluency  and  inaccuracy  were  noticeable  as  in  pre- 
ceding years.  It  is  probably  worth  mention  that  the 
two  boys  least  advanced  pedagogically — those  in 
Standard  II — do  by  far  the  best  work  for  children 
of  this  age. 

IV.    The  Oral  Work  of  the  Girls  of  School  C. 

Hitherto  it  has  not  appeared  that  the  method  of 
taking  the  reports,  interrogatories,  and  self-correc- 
tions orally,  rather  than  in  writing,  will  lead  to  any 
serious  modification  in  our  conclusions.  The 
younger  children  in  the  senior  schools  work  rather 
better  orally  than  in  writing,  but  the  conclusions 
drawn  as  to  the  relative  work  of  infants  and  older 
children  have  not  been  invalidated.  Nor  shall  we, 
I  think,  find  them  invalidated  in  the  work  now  about 
to  be  described ;  but  there  is  a  marked  difference  be- 
tween the  oral  and  the  written  work  of  the  girls; 
and  the  steady  progression  from  infants  to  older 
children,  which  we  might  reasonably  have  expected, 
and  have  never  found,  seems  here  on  the  verge  of 
realization.  This  School  C  was  the  one  in  which  the 
written  work  was  done  two  years  previously.  ^*  Why, 
those  children  had  done  the  work  before!''  a  hasty 
critic  may  exclaim.  No,  they  had  not ;  for  the  8-year- 
old  children  had  all  passed  up  from  the  infants'  de- 


234  CHILDREN'S   PERCEPTIONS 

partments  since  the  work  had  been  done.  And  we 
had  also  ten  12-year-old  children,  who  had  entered 
from  other  schools  since  the  Axis  sage  work  had  been 
taken.  All  the  8-year-old  children  now  in  the  school 
did  the  exercises,  so  that  in  their  case  we  are  run- 
ning no  risks  from  inadequate  sampling.  As  in  other 
instances  where  the  work  was  done  orally,  one-third 
of  the  reports,  interrogatories  and  self-corrections 
were  heard  and  written  down  by  me.  The  remainder 
were  taken  by  the  Head  Mistress,  who  had  had  sev- 
eral years '  experience  of  work  in  experimental  peda- 
gogy. 

TABLE  LV. 

Results  from  the  Oral  Work  of  Eight- Year-Old  Girls, 
School  C. 


Standard.         ^         Average  +j 

<=>  Age.  -^^  o 

6        Yrs.  Mths.         g  g- 

lib 5  8       5.2  28.5 

II    14  8       3.8  40.2 

III    7  8       7.0  47.3 

All  Standards.    26            8       4.9  39.8 

M.  V n.2 

TABLE  LVI. 
Results  from  the  Oral  Work  of  Twelve- Year-Old  Girls, 


Standard.         «m         Average  -e 

®              Age.  ^  S 

d  Yrs.  Mths.  ^  g- 

IV.. 4           12       1.3  55.5 

V   4           12       2.3  61.0 

VI  2           12        8.0  60.5 

All  Standards.    10          12       3.0  58.7 

M.  V 19.8 


u 

<D  O 

32.6 
31.8 
32.3 

39.6 
43.3 
50.9 

33.0 
33.8 
36.0 

13.4 
14.3 
11.6 

32.1 
4.1 

47.7 
11.3 

34.2 
3.5 

13.4 
3.2 

o 
u 

rot* 

^5 

•So 

36.8 
38.8 
43.0 

73.8 
80.0 
75.5 

37.3 
41.0 
44.0 

10.0 
12.0 
8.5 

38.8 
2.8 

76.6 
18.6 

40.1 
2.9 

10.5 
1.9 

DIFFERENCES   IN    METHOD   OF   REPORTING  235 

Comments  on  Tables  LV  and  LVL 

Undoubtedly  we  have  here,  in  the  oral  work  of 
these  girls,  some  factor  or  factors  which  are  mark- 
edly different  from  those  which  have  operated  in  the 
oral  work  of  the  boys  in  Schools  D.  E  and  F.  The 
children  of  the  same  age  rise  in  observational  pro- 
ficiency as  they  rise  in  standard,  whereas  the  tend- 
ency among  the  boys  was  rather  to  fall  than  to  rise. 
And  the  oral  work  of  the  girls  is  certainly  clearly 
better  than  their  written  work.  The  8-year-old  chil- 
dren are  equal  to  the  best  infants  in  reports  and  in- 
terrogatories, and  are  better  in  self-correction;  and 
the  oral  work  of  the  12-year-old  children  shows  a 
very  satisfactory  advance  on  that  of  the  children 
of  8  years  of  age.  How  shall  we  account  for  these 
differences  between  the  oral  work  of  the  boys  and 
girls?  Let  us  consider  the  likely  hypotheses  one  by 
one. 

^ Girls  talk  more  than  boys'  is  a  popular  explana- 
tion, ^and  they  go  on  advancing  in  loquacity  up 
to  (and  beyond?)  maturity.'  This  may  be  so,  but 
what  the  girls  say  in  these  exercises  is  not  mere  talk ; 
only  accurate  observations  are  counted;  they  are 
required  to  answer  the  same  questions  as  the  boys, 
and  they  correct  themselves  more  efficiently.  No 
'mere  talking'  hypothesis  will  account  for  these 
things. 

'Oh,  it's  the  teaching'  is  the  next  explanation 
freely  proffered.  Well,  I  am  fully  aware  that  a 
psychologist  frequently  bears  away  to  his  labora- 
tory work  which  teems  with  what  he  believes  to  be 
fruitful  conclusions  of  great  moment  when  he  has 
merely  lighted  upon  some  result  of  a  pedagogic 


236  childbed's  perceptions 

method  which  he  does  not  understand.  We  are  all 
liable  to  errors  of  that  kind.  But  I  hope  I  am  always 
on  my  guard  against  pedagogic  influences ;  my  expe- 
rience as  an  inspector  of  schools  tends  rather  to 
make  me  over-rate  than  under-rate  them.  Do  they 
operate  here?  Suppose  that  the  teachers  of  the 
school,  influenced  by  the  written  Aussage  work  of 
two  years  previous,  had  directed  their  oral  work  by 
Aussage  methods.  Still  these  8-year-old  and  12- 
year-old  children  are  new  children,  not  yet  seriously 
affected  by  the  general  methods  of  the  school.  And 
1  am  quite  sure  that  no  specifically  similar  work  had 
ever  been  taken  with  them.  Of  course,  with  8-year- 
old  children  their  infant-school  preparation  is  very 
important;  and  more  observational  work  had  been 
taken  in  recent  years  as  I  have  already  pointed  out ; 
but  no  such  factor  operated  with  the  12-year-old  girls 
who  came  in  from  outside,  and  not  from  the  infants' 
department. 

One  important  hypothesis  remains;  ^^the  girls  con- 
tinue," it  is  said,  '^to  be  interested  in  ^domestic  in- 
teriors' and  the  boys  do  not."  For  myself,  I  incline 
to  attach  much  weight  to  this  hypothesis,  supple- 
mented, perhaps,  by  the  more  ready  oral  expression 
of  girls  than  boys.  But  even  in  this  very  favorable 
case,  the  8-year-old  girls  are  no  better  than  the  best 
infants,  except  in  their  power  of  self-correction. 
But  in  the  case  of  the  girls  there  is  a  decided  ad- 
vance from  the  8-year-old  to  the  12-year-old  group, 
an  advance  much  less  noticeable  among  the  boys, 
both  in  linguistic  expression  and  actual  perception. 
These  differences,  however,  have  by  no  means  been 
just  discovered  by  an  ^oraP  method;  they  were  defi- 
nitely and  steadily  apparent  in  the  ^written'  work. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSIONS. 

It  is  contended  at  the  outset  that  the  only  method 
of  resolving  the  vexed  questions  underlying  the  dis- 
cussions about  Perception  and  Observation  among 
psychologists  and  teachers  is,  so  far  as  Educational 
Theory  and  Practice  are  concerned,  the  experimental 
investigation  of  them  under  school  conditions.  With 
school  children,  both  boys  and  girls,  from  the  age  of 
three  up  to  fourteen  in  six  different  schools  in  vari- 
our  parts  of  London,  an  attempt  has  been  made  to 
show  experimentally  what  children  do  actually  ob- 
serve. The  senior  pupils  in  the  earlier  experiments 
made  their  reports  and  answers  in  writing,  whilst 
the  younger  children  gave  theirs  orally.  In  order  that 
the  differences  between  the  work  of  the  younger  and 
older  children  might  not  be  regarded  as  due  merely 
to  the  differences  in  their  method  of  reporting,  fur- 
ther reports  and  answers  were  obtained  orally  from 
senior  children  in  other  schools.  It  seems  that  the 
capacity  to  observe  and  report  grows  rapidly  from 
the  age  of  three  up  to  the  age  of  six  or  seven  and 
then  suffers  a  check.  The  question  is  raised  whether 
our  changed  methods  and  differences  in  curriculum 
are  the  cause  of  this  set-back  in  senior  schools  or 
whether  there  is  a  natural  decline  of  interest  and 
capacity  in  observational  work  of  this  kind  in  the 
younger  children  of  senior  schools. 

237 


238  CHILDKEN^S   PEKCEPTIONS 

We  are  probably  not  called  upon  to  make  any  vio- 
lent alterations  in  curriculum  for  the  younger  classes 
of  senior  schools.  It  would  perhaps  be  sufficient  if 
more  adequate  means  were  taken  to  secure  that  our 
observation  lessons  were  really  lessons  in  perception 
and  accurate  expression  on  the  part  of  the  children 
and  not  instructional  lessons  by  the  teacher.  It  is 
doubtful  even  then  whether  the  natural  decline  of 
interest  in  this  work  (if  it  exists)  would  not  bring 
our  results  below  those  of  the  older  children  in  infant 
schools  (containing  children  from  three  to  seven). 
That  observational  work  of  a  very  high  character 
can  be  obtained  from  all  children  is  shown  by  the 
I  whole  progress  of  this  research.  With  feiv  excep- 
\  tions  they  knoiv  more  about  their  lesson  a  week  after- 
\wards  than  they  do  at  the  time,  even  ivhen  the  period 
W  observation  is  so  short  that  a  fatigue  factor  is  ex- 
cluded. It  is  claimed  that  this  result,  most  pleasing 
to  teachers,  is  a  direct  consequence  of  the  method 
employed,  which  requires  on  the  part  of  the  child 
both  spontaneous  expression  and  accurate  answering 
to  searching  examination  by  the  experimenter.  For 
work  done  in  this  way  children's  memories  are  most 
surprisingly  full  and  accurate. 

In  Chapter  VI  an  endeavor  has  been  made  to  show 
precisely  what  it  is  that  children  of  different  ages 
and  of  different  sexes  actually  do  observe,  and  also 
what  they  neglect  to  observe.  To  the  teacher,  the 
detailed  study  of  this  section  will  be  useful.  Subject 
to  the  break  in  progress  found  in  the  younger  classes 
of  senior  schools,  a  progress  which  is  afterwards  re- 
sumed, there  seems  an  increasing  resistance  to  sug- 
gestion, and  an  increasing  capacity  to  observe  cloth- 
ing and  the  position  of  and  relations  between  things. 


SUMMABY  AND  CONCLUSIONS  239 

In  the  numerical  enumeration  of  things  there 
seems  no  great  advance,  the  spontaneous  interest  in 
mere  numbering  seems  small. 

In  the  perception  of  color  the  results  are  unex- 
pected. Young  children,  if  they  are  pleased  by  col- 
ors, appear  to  be  pleased  in  an  emotional  way,  for 
they  show  very  little  accurate  observation  and  mem- 
ory of  them.  Only  among  the  older  girls  of  the 
senior  school,  not  the  boys,  are  the  observations  of 
color  really  full  and  good.  In  this  connection  it 
should  be  mentioned  that  the  curriculum  of  all  Eng- 
lish elementary  schools  is  at  present  supposed  to  be 
specially  favorable  to  the  acquisition  of  the  percep- 
tion of  color ;  probably  this  aspect  of  the  curriculum 
receives  an  amount  of  time  which  can  hardly,  from 
an  intellectual  point  of  view,  at  any  rate,  be  held  to 
have  justified  itself. 

Girls  are  more  proficient  than  boys  both  in  the 
linguistic  expression  of  their  observations  and  in  the 
number  and  accuracy  of  them ;  but  the  subject-matter 
in  this  case  probably  makes  more  appeal  to  girls 
than  to  boys.  I  believe  that  these  differences  are 
natural  advantages  in  favor  of  the  girls,  but  for  cer- 
tainty in  this  respect  we  require  observations  simi- 
larly conducted  in  which  the  subject-matter  favors 
the  boys. 

From  the  standpoint  of  the  Psychologist  or  the 
Teacher  who  uses  these  Aiissage  exercises  as  a  Men- 
tal Test  for  the  proper  grading  of  children,  it  seems 
possible  with  confidence  to  recommend  them  for  use 
with  children  up  to  the  age  of  seven ;  but  after  that 
age  it  is  very  doubtful  if  the  closeness  of  the  rela- 
tionship between  their  capacity  in  this  work  and 


240  children's  perceptions 

their  general  mental  advance  is  maintained.  For 
older  children  more  tests  are  needed  than  we  have  at 
present  of  what  we  usually  call  the  *  higher  mental 
faculties,  I  do  not  wish  it  to  be  understood  that  I  am 
suggesting  that  this  exercise  has  no  value  as  a  mental 
test  even  for  older  children ;  but,  standing  by  itself, 
it  would  be  very  uncertain  as  compared  with  its  reli- 
ability with  very  young  children. 


Statistical  Appendix. 

Showing  the  Correlation-coefficients  Between  the  First  and  Second 
Reports  and  the  First  and  Second  Sets  of  Answers  for  School 
0,  with  the  Differences  Between  the  Means  and  the  ^Probable 
Error'  of  Those  Differences, 

1st  and  2d  Sets  of 
1st  and  2d  Reports.  Answers. 


Av.  age.         p  ,  S  a  . 

I      -4    i  I  11    Ui  III  If  lit  III 

VII 14        13    2        .57          8.3        3.2        .85        1.4  .4 

VI 20        12     8         .84         10.2         1.6         .65         1.0  .4 

V 42         12     2         .74          5.7         1.1         .77        2.6  .3 

IV 54        10  10         .71           7.3         1.1         .73         1.2  .3 

III 34          9  10        .57         17.0         1.2         .62         2.8  .2 

II 34          8  11        .58          2.1        1.0        .73        0.9  .1 

Boys. 

VII 10        13    8        .35        15.7        2.2        .81        0.5  .6 

VI 26        13    0        .73          9.9        1.3        .71        2.0  .5 

V 32         12     3         .43           4.2         1.3         .59         2.1  .4 

IV 41         11     1         .60          4.9         1.0         .78         1.2  .3 

III 42        10    3        .68          8.1        0.8        .72        1.9  .4 

II 49          8  11        .76          0.6        0.6        .71        0.9  .3 

Note. — The  Correlation-coefficients  have  been  calculated  from 
the  individual  results  by  means  of  the  Pearson  'r'  formula,  and  the 
"Probable  Errors"  of  the  differences  between  the  means  from  the 


/(Fx    +  (^2    —  2r(ri<r2. 

formula  "p.  e."  =z  .67  yj .    The  meaning  of  the 

n 

formulae  and  the  methods  of  calculation  are  simply  explained  in 
two  statistical  notes,  one  in  my  Monograph  When  Should  a  Child 
Begin  School?  and  the  other  in  Inductive  versus  Deductive  Meth- 
ods of  Teaching^  both  published  by  Warwick  &  York,  Baltimore, 
U.  S.  A. 

241 


INDEX. 

Accuracy,  increase  in,  15,  19,  21,  51,  54,  59,  60,  63,  72,  75,  81,  85,  93, 

97,  101,  104,  109,  117,  136,  139,  144,  146,  151,  153,  159,  161,  167, 

169,  178,  181,  185,  228. 
Activities,  perceptions  of,  25,  30,  53,  58,  61,  63,  70,  71,  78,  81,  92,  93, 

100,  107,  109,  115,  117,  134,  135,  142,  143,  150,  151,  200. 
Answers,  method  of  marliing,  see  "Marking  Answers." 

sets  of,  15,  19,  55,  63,  72,  81,  93,  101,  110,  117,  136,  144, 
151,  159,  167,  178. 
Association,  influence  of,  37,  39,  48,  58,  75,  165. 
Aussage,  meaning  of  term,  v,  3. 

experiments  of  Prof.  Stern,  8. 
validity  of  method,  212. 
Boys  versus  Girls,  132,  141,  148,  156,  164,  171,  183,  184,  192,  196, 

211,  235,  239. 
Clothes,  perceptions  of,  22,  32,  66,  96,  140,  194,  238. 
Color,  names,  29,  34,  36,  38,  41,  42,  45,  48,  49,  211. 

perceptions  of,  22,  29,  30,  33,  37,  38,  40,  42,  43,  45,  48,  57,  58, 
66,  75,  84,  86,  97,  104,  105,  112,  135,  140,  165,  207,  212,  239. 
Enumeration,  numerical,  in  young  children,  44,  239. 
Environment,  influence  of,  189,  190. 
Evidence,  science  of,  48. 
*Faculty'  doctrine,  5. 
Girls  versus  Boys,  132,  141,  148,  156,  164,  171,  183,  184,  192,  196, 

211,  235,  239. 
Growth,  bodily  versus  mental,  4,  192. 
Heredity,  influence  of,  189,  190. 
Imagination,  35,  69,  88. 
Marking  answers,  method  of,  23,  52,  54,  57,  61,  62,  66,  68,  70,  71,  74, 

76,  83,  85,  91,  96,  97,  99,  101,  104,  105,  107,  108,  112,  113,  115, 

116,  117,  120,  121,  134,  135,  138,  142,  143,  146,  149,  150,  153,  154, 

157,  159,  161,  162,  169,  170,  172,  174,  180,  182. 
Memory,  51,  89,  124,  125,  211,  215,  227,  238. 
Number,  perceptions  of,  43,  44,  59,  112,  147,  205,  239. 

243 


244  CHILDREN'S  perceptio:n^s 

Observation,  cultivation  of,  1,  2,  238. 

growth  of,  43,  87,  124,  176,  235,  237. 
bow  to  teach  it,  6,  7. 
what  it  implies,  3,  13. 
Persons,  perceptions  of,  53,  61,  62,  70,  71,  78,  80,  92,  93,  97,  100,  109, 

115,  116,  134,  135,  142,  143,  149,  150,  157,  159. 
Position,  perceptions  of,  18,  19,  24,  26,  31,  40,  41,  53,  57,  58,  61,  63, 
66,  67,  70,  71,  75,  78,  80,  84,  92,  93,  100,  107,  109,  115,  117,  134, 
135,  138,  142,  143,  150,  151,  157,  159,  174,  177,  196,  238. 
Qualifications,  perceptions  of,  53,  62,  63,  70,  72,  79,  80,  93,  100,  109, 
115,  117,  134,  135,  142,  144,  150,  151,  157,  159,  165,  166,  174,  177. 
Reports,  spontaneous,  13,  14,  18,  19,  52,  53,  61,  62,  69,  71,  78,  79,  91, 
93,  99,  101,  106,  107,  114,  116,  134,  135,  142,  143,  149,  150,  156, 
158,  164,  165,  172,  174. 
Reporting,  power  of,  87,  124,  172,  237. 
Science  of  Education,  8. 
Science  of  Evidence,  48. 

Selection  of  pupils  for  experiment,  10,  11,  224,  229. 
Self-corrections,  children's,  50,  59,  67,  85,  97,  105,  113,  121,   140, 

147,  154,  162,  170,  181,  236. 
value  of,  69,  75,  88. 
Sex  of  pupils,  132,  141,  186. 

of  teachers,  133,  187. 
Social  class  of  pupils,  125,  126. 
Spontaneous  reports,  see  Reports. 

Suggestion,  influence  of,  15,  22,  26,  27,  28,  29,  34,  36,  39,  41,  46,  47, 
49,  57,  58,  59,  66,  67,  75,  84,  104,  112,  140,  170,  176,  188,  194,  238. 
Table,  showing  work  of    3-year-old  children,  50. 

work  of    4-year-old  children,  60,  98. 

work  of    5-year-old  children,  68,  105. 

work  of    6-year-old  children,  77,  114. 

work  of    7-year-old  children,  86,  122. 

work  of    8-year-old  children,  225,  228,  230,  234. 

work  of    9-year-old  children,  232. 

work  of  10-year-old  children,  232. 

work  of  12-year-old  children,  226,  228,  234. 

work  of  all  children  of  School  A,  87. 

work  of  School  A  and  School  B  compared,  126. 

w^ork  of  Standard  II,  141. 

work  of  Standard  III,  148. 


INDEX  245 

work  of  Standard  IV,  155. 
work  of  Standard  V,  163. 
work  of  Standard  VI,  171. 
work  of  Standard  VII,  183. 
work  of  boys  and  girls  compared,  185. 
increase  in  accuracy,  185. 
perceptions  of  actions,  200,  201. 
clothes,  194,  195. 
color,  207,  208,  209,  210. 
number,  205,  206. 
position,  197,  198,  199. 
things,  203,  204. 
suggestibility,  188,  189,  190,  191,  193. 
Teachers,  co-operation  of,  vii. 

Things,  perceptions  of,  38,  39,  53,  57,  61,  62,  67,  70,  78,  80,  92,  93,  97, 
100,  109,  115,  116,  134,  135,  142,  143,  149,  150,  157,  159,  165,  166, 
202,  238. 


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